Associated British Ports to develop Stallingborough finished vehicle facility in Humber region of UK

Associated British Ports (ABP) is planning to build a 28-hectare vehicle storage site at Stallingborough Interchange in the UK north-east region to support throughput at the ports of Grimsby and Immingham. The ports operator is planning to begin operations at the site in 2026 and is in discussions with existing and new partners on the build out of the scheme. 

The Stallingborough site is located 3.2km from the port of Immingham and 9.6km from the port of Grimsby and linked by road along the A180 dual carriageway, leading to Grimsby and local motorway networks, as well as the Humber Link Road, the new port connection road built in 2021 that links Immingham and Grimsby. GBA Group is providing third-party vehicle logistics services at the ports and providing road transport services between the ports and the Stallingborough site.

The vehicle facility is part of a wider development across 92 hectares of land, which ABP bought in December 2023 as part of plans to increase vehicle throughput at its port locations in the UK. Along with the 28-hectare site dedicated to finished vehicle processing, ABP will dedicate 10.5 hectares to green infrastructure, including solar panels. 

“Demand is expected to increase for energy generation, automotive storage, bulk warehousing, and storage and distribution uses and this new site will ensure the delivery of state-of-the-art infrastructure, facilities, and technological innovation for new and existing customers,” said Andrew Dawes, regional director of the Humber ports at ABP. 

The automotive development will provide storage and services for existing OEM customers and new entrants, according to ABP. Current OEM customers include BMW, JLR, Kia, Stellantis, Toyota and VW Group. The port operator is looking to include a range of services, for those customers according to an ABP spokesperson. That includes making provisions for electric vehicles. “We are looking to work with customers to provide the facilities they need on site,” she said. “The outline planning consent is flexible to provide the services they need on site… so we can provide as many charging spots as is required and the solar power provided will help with power capacity for this.” 

ABP recorded 800,000 vehicles processed through Grimsby and Immingham through 2023, with 85% of those imported. Last year it said that said the acquisition of Stallingborough, together with developments at Grimsby Automotive Terminal, will increase the capacity of the Humber to handle vehicles by 50%.  

Read more about developments at the leading vehicle-handling ports in Europe in our forthcoming ports review, which will be published in the spring edition of Automotive Logistics magazine