Forty traders at Billingsgate Market in London, are taking part in a sustainable deliveries pilot which will end later this month and which has already seen an estimated 37% reduction in CO2 emissions and a reduction of 949 vehicle journeys.
The pilot is a partnership between the City of London Corporation, DHL Supply Chain and Ford Pro. Traders at the historic fish market pool deliveries using a shared fleet of Ford Pro connected vehicles, including an all-electric Ford E-Transit.
The pilot launched in March and focuses on deliveries from the market to commercial customers in the capital. Many traders rely on vans to make these deliveries, but for much of the day these vans are not in use. The City Corporation identified the opportunity to consolidate some of those trips, which avoids duplicating journeys and requires fewer vans.
Funded by the City Corporation, which owns and manages Billingsgate Market, the trial is being run using DHL Supply Chain and Ford Pro vehicles, software and servicing support.
Billingsgate trader Youssef Archi is director of Ish Seafood and has been trading in Billingsgate since 2015 supplying fishmongers in and around London. The business used to run its deliveries using two vans. “The delivery service is now getting better and better, so we’re not using our vans anymore. Before, every time we got a new customer we needed a new van, which was just more headache for us. Now, we can just focus on getting more customers,” he said.
Mark Button, managing director of Barney’s Billingsgate, a jellied eel and shellfish wholesaler that has been trading for 60 years at Billingsgate, said the pilot has helped him to attract new customers. “I don’t usually take on new customers that aren’t on my existing routes. Now, I can send the parcels via the delivery service and they arrive the same day. It’s cheaper than customers coming here and cheaper than me doing it.”
Chris Hayward, policy chairman at the City of London Corporation, said: “This pilot has proved that using different modes of delivery not only reduces emissions and traffic, but can also offer a better service to both our market traders and their customers.”
Tutu Akinkoye, GoGreen lead for DHL Supply Chain UK and Ireland, said: “We’re delighted with the results of the trial, which support our approach to not only ‘burn clean’ through the use of sustainable alternative fuels and drivetrains, but ‘burn less’ by reducing the energy and fuel consumption of our operations.
