A London-based logistics group has committed to locate its first UK operation outside the capital to the heart of the West Midlands. One World Express, currently based in Hayes, has announced that it is setting up a new hub at the Woodgate Business Park near Halesowen, creating 140 new jobs for the region over the next three years.

Woodgate Business Park is situated approximately seven miles south west of Birmingham City Centre, bordering its neighbour and sister Metropolitan borough of Sandwell. The business park is accessible from Junction 3 of the M5 via Carters Lane/Spies Lane (B40043) and the Quinton Expressway (A456).

One World Express was founded as a courier service in 1998, targeting the African market. Since then the business has evolved into a specialist e-commerce and software provider for companies and consumers around the globe.

It set up an office in China in 2014 to deal with growing consumer demand due to the trend for shopping on websites such as eBay. The company also has a base in the USA.

Lying at the heart of the West Midlands, Woodgate Business Park is the perfect location for the global firm’s new logistics hub due to the region’s extensive transport links and its central location. Birmingham’s official inward investment programme, Business Birmingham, worked closely with One World Express to help the company to identify the right site for its new hub.

Its move to Woodgate Business Park should also help to attract further new investment in the area and boost economic growth across the region by providing new jobs and training.

Leader of Birmingham City Council, Councillor John Clancy, said: “It is great news that One World Express has chosen Birmingham as its first UK base outside London, demonstrating how competitive it has become as a business location.

“By moving to an area of Birmingham that is outside the city centre, the firm will also help to spread local employment opportunities more widely across the city.”

One World Express is just one of a growing number of firms based in the capital that have identified the West Midlands as potentially the best location to expand their operations, with the skills and business support on offer to help them reach their full potential.

The 5,600m² site at Woodgate Business Park has undergone a significant refurbishment and One World Express has also invested in its technology, with one of its sorting machines able to handle over 9,000 parcels per hour.