The introduction of the Air Quality Standards Regulations in 2010 and the Mayor of London’s objective to tackle harmful emissions means there is a growing need for Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) across central London to work with businesses to address the increasing freight operations at a local level.

Southwark Council and Team London Bridge commissioned Steer Davies Gleave to review the current delivery and servicing regime in the BID to reduce the negative impact of freight operations. Through a combination of area-wide data collection and developing bespoke Delivery and Servicing Plans (DSPs) for seven major businesses, the project team identified the significant challenges to sustainable freight practices and potential solutions to overcome these.

The study identified several excellent examples of good practice, as well as factors applicable to many commercial organisations. These range from high rental costs resulting in a lack of storage and a ‘just in time’ delivery system, to heavy congestion and temporary roadworks delaying delivery drivers, to management companies unable to enforce policies upon their tenants related to preferred suppliers and deliveries of personal packages. 

Recommendations revolve around four central themes:  

Reducing vehicular activity

Retiming freight activity

Remode vehicular trips to zero / low carbon modes

and Rerouting drivers to avoid congestion ‘hot spots’.

Team London Bridge has pulled together a freight forum to work with these businesses and authorities at Southwark Council and Transport for London.  Businesses have particularly found it useful to share experiences, motivate each other to make a difference, and look for joined up solutions. Already the work is starting to bear fruit – with focus on consolidating suppliers, retiming deliveries, looking for suppliers with low emission fleet and restricting personal deliveries.  

Simple to read case studies for the DSP of each business can be found here:

And the final report here.