UK MOD To Build New £86 Million Storage Facility
The UK Ministry of Defence has announced a new storage facility is to be built near the English-Scottish border. The facility is set to cover 75,000m2, which is size of 12 football pitches. The site will be built in Longtown, Cumbria and will create 450 new jobs. The Glasgow based construction and civil engineering company McGlaughin & Harvey will be building the new site, they are also currently working on a new ship building hall in Glasgow for BAE Systems which was announced last month.
Longtown is no stranger to military industrucure, during the Second World War the area was home to a large ammunition store and during the First World War had been part of HM Factory Gretna which produced the propellant Cordite for the war effort.
John Farrow, DE&S Director commented on the new project:
‘The new warehouse will provide the UK with additional modern storage facilities, building on the success of similar facilities in Donnington, that will ensure assets are available more rapidly to meet surges in demand…This contract represents a fantastic example of the progress we have made in developing and implementing fit-for-purpose facilities that is helping to accelerate our mission of equipping and supporting our UK armed forces today and tomorrow.’
Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge also spoke on the new Longtown site, adding:
‘I am delighted that work is being done at DM Longtown by McLaughlin and Harvey. Longtown is a hugely important, strategic facility and contributes much to the operational capability of Defence. This work also highlights the number of people at the facility who work cross-border and that Defence is a pan-UK business, involving contractors from right across the UK, to keep its people and allies safe.’
The new facility is expected to be completed in October 2024 and will become a key asset in support of British military operations. The new site will be known as MOD Distribution Center (North), which will allow older current sites in Oxfordshire and Shropshire to be retired.