An ever-changing world, from the diversification of the cars on our roads to the unpredictability of climate change, means that we must continue to change too.
That’s why we keep moving forward with our Land & Expand strategy, acquiring land to develop new Operation Centres and extending and improving existing sites. This enables us to support our customers with growth, specialist vehicle handling, and increased vehicle volumes due to floods, storms, and other unexpected events.
And from a sustainability perspective, expanding our operational network will contribute towards reducing road miles for our customers, buyers, and transport fleet.
Hot on the heels of Copart Gloucester which opened its doors earlier this year, we’ve recently announced yet more Operation Centres in Chelmsford (Essex) and Andover (Hampshire).
Ensuring careful and considered positioning of our sites is critical and both Chelmsford and Andover are no exception. These areas are growing rapidly and we’re seeing increasing levels of housing development, so they will provide key locations for us to handle future demand and further strengthen our unrivalled operational capabilities.
Situated in close proximity to London, the 30-acre site at Chelmsford will provide storage for an additional 35,000 vehicles per year, boosting regional capacity by 25% alongside our Southeast Operation Centres in Colchester, Rochford, Sandwich, Sandy, and Wisbech. And the 27-acre site at Andover is strategically placed between major cities Oxford and Bristol (where we already operate a 80-acre Super Centre) and is less than two hours from central London.
We’re also pleased to report that building works are progressing at pace at Copart St Helens. This 19-acre site in Merseyside, which will provide further storage capacity for up to 24,000 vehicles in the northwest, is expected to be operational by autumn 2024 with the first auction planned for September.
As you have come to expect with Copart, we won’t be stopping there, and you can expect more announcements soon as we continue to grow our operational network.
We’re determined to get even closer to our customers and communities so that we can always be there when needed to collect, handle, and store vehicles quickly whatever the situation.