SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway
Project facts
- ClientSEGRO
- LocationEast Midlands, UK
- Date2012 – ongoing
- ChallengeDevelop a site that could support at least 32% of the workforce to commuting sustainably.
- SolutionEmbedding sustainable transport has led to 45% of the workforce travelling by bus, train, car share, cycling and walking.
The challenge
SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway is a 700-acre development, with a 50-acre strategic rail freight terminal and 6 million sqft of logistics accommodation. Due to the scale of the development it was classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.
The vision for the site was to create a regionally significant employment hub that could be reached without reliance on the private car, but there were several challenges to this:
- It’s 13 miles from the closest cities of Nottingham and Derby.
- It's next to the M1 making commuting by car very attractive.
- There are 24/7 operations, meaning employees arriving day and night.
- All the above made the prospect of encouraging sustainable travel a challenge.
The solution
We worked alongside SEGRO and a team of planners, engineers, architects, and lawyers to develop a Travel Plan and Public Transport Strategy for the site, setting out the transport infrastructure to enable employees to commute sustainably.When the site build commenced, upgrades to shared paths, new signalised crossing points, and a new bus terminal provided the necessary transport infrastructure. ITP's joint-working with local transport operators led to three high-frequency bus services calling at the site from first occupation and a new fully electric on-site shuttle bus made it easier and quicker to get around the site.
Beyond the planning phase, we were retained by SEGRO as the Site Wide Travel Plan Coordinators, working with the 13 businesses on-site to encourage sustainable commuting.
By re-thinking the delivery transport initiatives, we've successfully moved away from the Travel Plans simply being seen as a 'tick box' exercise to one that plays a key role in delivering sustainable developments.
The result
By having a strong sustainable vision from the outset, embedding sustainable transport in to the site infrastructure, and continuing to deliver impactful tenant and employee engagement campaigns around 45% if the workforce is now commuting by bus, train, car share, cycling and walking. In 2024 alone, this has led to just over 900 tonnes of carbon saved because more employees are commuting sustainably compared to baseline travel trends.
By challenging the norm when delivering sustainable transport initiatives and with more collaborative working between public and private sector stakeholders, we have delivered initiatives that have achieved demonstrable changes in travel behaviour.
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