A COMPANY in Huddersfield providing loading bay equipment for warehouses and depots has completed a £6.5m project for supermarket giant Tesco.

Kirkburton-based Easilift Loading Systems was awarded the contract – the largest single order ever placed in the UK for loading bay equipment – to supply the system for installation at Tesco’s new state-of-the-art grocery distribution centre in Daventry.

The 800,000sq ft facility is a major investment designed to meet Tesco’s long-term distribution requirements. Easilift, already an existing supply partner to Tesco, was recruited to take care of the centre’s widespread and complex loading dock requirements.

Easlift, working closely with Tesco and main contractor Volker Fitzpatrick, project managed the installation of 40 double deck lifting platforms and 100 dock leveller bays, all housed in external loading pods.

Tesco project manager Duncan Robertson said Easlift had proved its abilities in the past – and that by involving them in the process from the start, the partners could provide “a robust loading bay environment a scale never attempted before in UK distribution”.

Each of the 40 double deck bays incorporates a heavy duty, surface-mounted 16,000kg lifting platform,capable of carrying up to 30 roll cages. The lifts are located in external modular pods, made and partially pre-assembled at Easilift’s Penistone Road factory before delivery and final on-site erection using a 60-tonne crane.

All loading bays were fitted with a dock management system – an innovative hi-tech management reporting and safety system designed to prevent vehicles leaving the loading bay before they should.

The system combines Easilift’s dock door and associated control equipment with Traka’s electronic key control system and was tailored to complement Tesco’s existing safety processes.

Easilift has 35 years experience in the design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of high quality loading bay equipment and industrial doors for some of the biggest names in retailing, manufacturing, logistics, distribution, warehousing, construction and the service sector.