Perishables Hub

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^{£1.6-MILLION development which will help firms access global markets was being opened by a Government minister today.
The Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber, Rosie Winterton, was opening the Perishables Hub at Humberside Airport.
It will provide global and regional businesses with airside cold storage facilities.
These will enable perishable goods, for example seafood, to be flown direct in to the airport and stored immediately. This will dramatically boost the region's efficiencies in air-freighted distribution and reduce the miles food currently travels.
Rosie Winterton said: "One of my top priorities is to champion the region, at home and further afield, as an excellent place to do business with and from.
The theme of my visit to North Lincolnshire and the Humber today is to promote its very significant position as a global gateway for trade and business and to find out from local leaders and business what I can do to help to raise the profile of the region."
See tomorrow's Grimsby Telegraph for the full story.}


Will it help attract back the fish flights fully?

[Humberside]

www.humberbusiness.com/news/Local/Grimsby/November-2008/At-the-hub-of-the-fresh-food-trade.aspx

new development at Humberside Airport is set to boost trade in the region.


Rosie Winterton, the Government Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber, was at the airport to open the Perishables Hub - a purpose-built temperature-controlled facility to handle air freight cargo - particularly seafood and other perishable goods.

She congratulated all involved in the "very impressive" £1.6-million development, adding: "This is exactly the kind of initiative we want to see being taken forward in our area."

She said the development was going to be a boost for the local economy and one which would cut down on the costs of transportation for firms and ensure goods reached their destinations more quickly.

Ms Winterton also said she was delighted to see the success of the partnership working involved.

This included North Lincolnshire Council, Anglia Cargo International and Humberside Airport, working together with Yorkshire Forward and funding from Europe.

Anglia Cargo International director Geoff Garrard-Hughes said the new 10,000 sq ft development would employ about six people.

The refrigerator will take about 130 pallets and Mr Garrard-Hughes said it offered a tool which meant companies in the area could use their local facility.

Icelandic fish, which was previously being carried elsewhere, is now using the Humberside Airport facility and the number of flights from Iceland has increased to three or four a week, each typically carrying 25 to 28 tonnes of cargo.

Mr Garrard-Hughes also said now the facility was here they would be able to target more business from other areas and would be handling dry cargo as well as fish.

Humberside Airport director Tony Lavan said: "It's a £1.6-million addition to the infrastructure and gives Humberside a state-of-the-art transit and perishables hub which will allow us to open up new markets into the Humber region."

He added: "We are working with Yorkshire Forward and North Lincolnshire Council to establish the new customer bases and the new transport of perishable goods opportunities."

Wish we did still have 3 or 4 flights a week. The Sunday flight has kept operating however

And Tony Lavan has actually spoken to the press!!!