Freight News, Logistics


DHL breaks ground on UK & Ireland pharma hub

[ June 17, 2026   //   ]

DHL Supply Chain is to develop a multi-user healthcare facility at Infinity Park Derby. The 194,000sq ft site for life sciences firms will operate as an automated shared-user warehouse for consumer health, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and animal health.

The facility will be the company’s flagship ‘lighthouse’ life sciences and healthcare site in the UK and Ireland and the seventh site in its network. DHL describes it as a platform for regulated supply chains, enabling customers to discard fragmented operations and instead develop resilient and scalable supply chain models anchored in the UK.

DHL says the development is a milestone in its £550 million investment to accelerate automation across its UK operations while also forming part of DHL Group’s €2 billion investment into life sciences and healthcare by 2030.

The facility will have pallet shuttle systems and the capability to introduce Autonomous Mobile Robots over time to manage tasks with minimal manual intervention, and will support B2B and B2C delivery. Multi-temperature capabilities will span ambient, chilled and frozen.

The site is set to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and EPC ‘A’ certification. Infinity Park Derby has been designed as a carbon neutral facility through electrification, energy-efficient automation and renewable energy integration. The facility is designed for maximum storage efficiency, fitting up to 40% more pallets within the same footprint as traditional warehouses. ‘Dark-store’ automation that requires minimal lighting will help reduce overall energy demand and there will be charging points for electric vehicles. The site will generate renewable electricity through solar panels.

DHL Supply Chain UK and Ireland chief executive, Martin Willmor, said: “The UK health landscape is experiencing sustained, above-trend growth across pharma, medical devices and consumer health, driven by demand for advanced therapies and personalised medicine. Developing the new Infinity Park site ensures we can meet this accelerating demand with the specialist infrastructure needed to support growth. By combining automation with multi-temperature flexibility, we are making market-leading technology accessible to organisations of all sizes, helping them scale without sacrificing quality, control or sustainability.”

Initial works are underway, with completion expected by the end of the year.

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