Gatwick Airport on-site facility

Gatwick Airport is the UK’s second largest airport, serving some 38 million passengers each year.

Around 45 airlines use Gatwick, including British Airways, EasyJet, Emirates, Thomson, Virgin and Vietnam Airlines, reaching around 200 destinations in 90 countries. 

Major construction work is currently underway at Gatwick to make it London’s airport of choice and VINCI Construction plc, one of A-Plant’s biggest customers, has been awarded a £183.9m deal to transform Pier 1 in the South Terminal. The project has involved the demolition of Pier 1, one of the oldest at the airport, to make way for a new building. The new two-storey building will hold a new baggage system that will enable bags to be processed faster and give airlines the opportunity to use automated fast-bag drops. It will also be linked to five new aircraft stands by air-bridges.

The Challenge

A-Plant supplies VINCI Construction plc with a vast range of equipment through a long-standing Framework Agreement. As one of our long-term Strategic Partners, we were very keen to support VINCI Construction plc on this contract to ensure they had the equipment they needed, when they needed it. The works needed to be completed within a live operational environment and to the highest standards of safety and quality, so instant access to a wide range of reliable equipment was important.

The Solution

We opened an on-site facility at Gatwick Airport to provide equipment to VINCI Construction UK and their sub-contractors. The facility offers a range of electrical tools such as drills, breakers and fixings from manufacturers such as Hilti and Makita, low level access equipment, and consumables and PPE for sale. We also have a dedicated Airport Team to provide Airside Deliveries, Engineers and Sales Support for all product ranges covering the entire Airport. As well as being able to supply smaller equipment, large plant is delivered direct from our Leatherhead Service Centre located nearby.

The Results

The on-site facility has enabled VINCI Construction plc and sub-contractors working on the project to have immediate access to equipment as and when they need it with minimum hassle, in turn helping drive efficiency and quality. This illustrates our total commitment to our Strategic Partners and our ability to significantly add value to contracts.