A NEW warehouse has created 20 jobs in Widnes.

It comes after SSO Logistics has invested more than £500,000 in the new unit and six forklift trucks.

The firm’s 40,000 sq ft site in Widnes complements its existing sites in St Helens and Haydock.

It has also committed a further £350,000 on four EFL252 Lithium battery-powered FLTs for its Haydock site, along with two Calder Flexi FLTs for the new Widnes site.

The new warehouse, which has space for 4,000 pallets, will be used for redirecting shipments for several delivery postcodes SSO covers for the Wolverhampton-based Pallet-Track network.

This will save an estimated 32,000 miles annually from UK roads, which equates to cutting just under 24 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Peter Draper, director at SSO Logistics, said: “With a lot of our work with Pallet-Track, the trunks would come back to Haydock – now they can go direct to Widnes, which is quicker and has far less impact on the environment.

“As a business, we’re growing and planning for the future. I believe many major warehousing projects are going to be shelved due to high interest rates, so we are securing space now and forward planning for our customers.

“With the new vehicles, there is also an environmental and business benefit. The Lithium truck can be charged in 15 minutes compared to an eight-hour full charge for the older lead acid models, which would often run out halfway through a shift.”