HRH The Princess Royal Visits Our New National Distribution Centre in Hull

The visit by the Princess Royal officially marks the opening of Arco's latest £30 million investment into improving its logistical capabilities.

Arco welcomed her Royal Highness the Princess Royal to its brand new National Distribution Centre extension, which marks Phase 3 of the site's expansion. The Princess Royal toured Arco's state of the art facility and its industry-leading Quality Lab, meeting and talking to a number of Arco employees and commemorated the occasion by unveiling a plaque.

This was a return visit for the Princess Royal who also performed the official opening ceremony for Arco's original National Distribution Centre in 2003. Phase 3, became operational on the 10th February 2020, marking an important milestone in the company's 135-year history in Hull and is part of a £70m investment programme Arco is making in the region.

With an area of 220,000 square feet in size and standing at 22 metres high, Phase 3 doubles Arco's warehouse floor space and trebles its storage capacity. The project was delivered on time and to budget, with the original NDC remaining operational, without any impact on customer service. Arco played a leading role in the UK's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the new facility providing immediate capacity, the NDC team responded to dramatic changes in circumstances, introducing new ways of working and bringing the operation online ahead of schedule. Arco were involved in procuring, stocking and distributing critical Personal Protective Equipment for frontline workers, including over 140m face masks, 18m gloves, 0.5m coveralls and 0.5m hygiene products including hand sanitiser.

Arco is the only safety distributor with an independently accredited testing laboratory and has a rigorous five-step product assurance process, ensuring the products it sells, meet recognised European and international standards. They also offer support for customers testing safety products that are available on the market and advise of their compliance. Part of her visit to the Arco laboratory, the Princess Royal was given a live demonstration to show how Arco tests safety footwear to ensure it complies with relevant safety standards. During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, Arco's safety experts supported frontline responders including the NHS and customers in critical key industries in identifying counterfeit and fake products and advised the Office for Product Safety Standards, the Health and Safety Executive and Trading Standards of their findings.

Thomas Martin, Arco's Chairman, said:

"We are extremely honoured and delighted to receive HRH the Princess Royal today to celebrate the official opening of Phase 3 of our National Distribution Centre, a significant milestone for Arco. Phase 3 re-affirms our continued commitment to our customers, those who work with Arco and the city of Hull. Our efforts in expanding the business's logistical capabilities will allow us to fulfil our ambitious future growth plans. In a very short time, it has supported our core purpose to keep people safe, enabling us to make a significant contribution to support the UK supply chain for critical safety equipment throughout a global pandemic."