A £6.3m warehouse the size of two-and-a-half football pitches will be opened today at the Port of Tyne.
The 17,000 square metre warehouse was announced earlier this year as part of a £10m investment programme.
The facility provides enough space for 18,000 pallets and brings the total warehousing capacity at Tyne Dock to 5.7 hectares.
The scheme is being undertaken at the same time as a £6.3m development to create 85,000 sq ft of industrial unit space.
The warehouse incorporates 70km of cabling and 1,000 tonnes of steel.
When the warehouse division was established, in 2001, there were 11 employees. By the end of the year, that figure will be more than 60.
Employment at the Port has doubled over the past six years to 425 by the end of the year.
More than 10,000 jobs are directly dependant on the river and many thousands more depend on it indirectly.
Since the launch of Port of Tyne Logistics Services, in 2000, the port has seen a 34 per cent increase in container volumes and a 23 per cent increase in general cargo.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article