PD Ports wins long term handling contract for all imports for Taylors of Harrogate

Tea and coffee merchants, Taylors of Harrogate, has awarded PD Ports a ten year contract to handle 100 per cent of its tea and coffee imports, securing around 10 jobs.  This follows a successful 12 month trial, handling fifty per cent of Taylors’ tea and coffee UK imports, through PD Ports-owned Teesport on the north-east coast.

The family business will now import all of its tea and coffee through Teesport, rather than southern UK ports with further transportation via road to its production facility at Harrogate - saving about 100,000 road miles per year.

“Not only does the move to Teesport help us greatly improve our environmental footprint, it also reduces costs. We’re committed to buying the best tea and coffee the world has to offer for our Yorkshire Tea and other blends, and the partnership with PD Ports ensures we’re able to maintain these high quality standards throughout the import and warehousing process,” says Keith Writer, commodities director at Taylors of Harrogate.

PD Ports has invested more than £350,000 in upgrading two warehouses to store the sensitive products, including the installation of dehumidification and specialist handling equipment. From Teesport, the teas and coffees are transported by PD Ports’ logistics team, on demand, the short distance to Taylors’ production facility.

David Robinson, PD Ports group chief executive officer, says the new contract proves that the ‘portcentric logistics’ concept works for a wide range of companies and products.  “With our range of services and highly experienced staff, we can offer a much more environmentally-friendly and cost effective logistics solution in many different markets.”

During the trial period, PD Ports showed it could offer all the services which Taylors needed, from customs clearance and container de-stuffing to warehousing and just-in-time distribution to the production plant in Harrogate. The upgraded warehouses total 60,000 sq ft and are designed to be able to handle more products as Taylors’ business grows.

PD Ports has just taken delivery of new vehicles, in the livery of one of Taylors’ most well-known products, Yorkshire Tea, which will be dedicated to transporting the products from the warehouses to Harrogate.

“We have worked closely with Taylors to develop exactly the service they need and we are delighted to have secured this long-term contract. It demonstrates again that our decision to promote the portcentric logistics concept is a winning solution for further improving our customers’ supply chains,” concluded Mr Robinson.