Anglia Forwarding

In 2017 Anglia Forwarding will celebrate 30 years on the Fairview Industrial Estate in Rainham. The Anglia Centre in Blackwater Close was purpose built for Anglia Forwarding in 1987. They were one of the first businesses on the site that today falls within the London Riverside Business Improvement District.
Anglia Forwarding is an independent freight forwarding company founded in 1971. They provide International freight services by Road, Sea and Air along with secure stock management and short and long term warehousing.
“We had some good help from Havering Council to get established here in Rainham,” said Colin Dowling, the Managing Director of Anglia Forwarding. “We previously had two separate old Edwardian buildings in Leytonstone and a warehouse in Barking. The idea was to join them all together and we had this good opportunity in Rainham. The key reasons we chose this location was because of the financial help from Havering Council and the transport infrastructure. We’re just off the A13, with easy access to the North Circular and the M25 is only five minutes away.”
“It would also be fantastic if we got another river crossing in this part of London as we plan to be here for a long time! Transport infrastructure is crucial for us as we’re a transport company and we also have bases at London Heathrow, the port in Felixstowe and in Birmingham.”
The Rainham base is Anglia Forwarding’s head office and all the group accounting and cargo consolidation also takes place at the Anglia Centre. Every day a truck comes down from Birmingham and goes back later in the day and Anglia Forwarding ship all over the world.
Colin estimates that around one third of Anglia Forwarding staff live in the borough of Havering and many others live within easy reach of Rainham.  Colin lives in Collier Row. “We‘ve had such a good relationship with this estate over the years in particular so we’re really pleased we chose this location” said Colin.
“Another key factor for us is the close proximity of the new London Gateway Port in Stanford-le-Hope which opened a couple of years ago where large vessels delivering containers from the Far East will start arriving in the next 6 to 12 months. Currently we have a lot of containers going to Felixstowe but now they will be arriving much closer and it’s one of the reasons we spent £1.1 million on a warehouse extension 18 months ago.”
“When we originally bought the site we had in mind that we may wish to expand at some point in the future and we’ve now been able to extend twice. First we extended the admin offices and then we expanded our warehouse. On both occasions we had a good service from Havering Council’s planning department.” The warehouse now covers 3,550 m2 and has bays for 11 trucks.
Colin is also looking forward to the new Beam Parkway station that will be built very close to the Fairview Industrial Estate. “Anything that can help our staff get to the office is welcome,” said Colin.
On site Anglia Forwarding employs around 30 people. They also work quite closely with Havering College. “We are quite lucky that we don’t have much turnover of staff but we worked with the college to develop and run bespoke training courses. We have already held a five day management training course that the College developed after several months of working closely with us and we’re in the process of developing a customer service course. John Archer from Havering College led the course and we also worked well with the Business Development Manager at the College,” said Colin.
“The London Riverside BID has been very good and has produced many advantages for us. It has brought additional CCTV, 24/7 security patrols, ANPR recognition for vehicles entering the state, it’s safer for our staff and they have kept the estate neat and tidy. If we do expand further  we will do it on this estate because it’s such a well-run estate, “ added Colin.
Key customers for Anglia Forwarding include Triumph Motorcycles, Vent Axia and the fashion chain H&M. HM Revenue and Customers recognise Anglia Forwarding as an Authorised Economic Operator. “That means we’re like a trusted trader with HMRC and are part of a secure supply chain which is one of the reasons big companies like H&M use us,” said Colin.
The Anglia Centre also trades as the International Cargo Centre or ICC as they handle freight for a number other freight forwarding companies.
More information:
W: www.anglia-forwarding.co.uk
E: London@anglia-forwarding.co.uk
T: 01708 527000