Representation by Ripe Now Limited (Ripe Now Limited)
- Date submitted
- 9 January 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Reference Lower Thames Crossing Dear Sir, The Lower Thames Crossing is really important to us as a business, it means we can get more reliable traffic in to us here in South Lincolnshire, more quickly getting our fruit to the end consumer when they need it, in the right condition. Ripe Now is based on 2 sites in Boston Lincolnshire, we ripen Bananas, Avocados, stone fruit and Mango and what you see daily on the major retailers shelves and chill units very likely emanated from a Ripening centre such as ours. Road transport is very important to our business, all fruit from all around the world, arrives at our ripening centre by road from all UK major ports in the South East of The UK and is then shipped to the major retailers and food service businesses from our site Nationwide, including back in to the South East. We are heavily reliant on Road haulage , and it is key to getting our fruit from the ports and from The Continent, from Italy and Spain, in good condition and on time. This fruit passes through Kent and Essex in to our hub and back out again to our key customers via our Haulage partners. We have up to 20 movements a day from this region inbound, with probably half of this then going back in the SE direction. The impact of The Lower Thames Crossing to our business would be very positive indeed, if we could then rely on vehicles getting fruit to us in minimum lead times. The current scenario using The Dartford Crossing means that many of our inbound vehicles can get delayed for just a couple of hours, which in reality , due to driver hour regulations, can mean an additional day before they arrive, creating quality issues and affecting the cost of storage in terms of available capacity. The impact of having The Lower Thames Crossing would definitely be a positive affect on our business, meaning we can have more reliable lead times, plan better for intake and storage, and use our ripening rooms more efficiently. In turn this means we can give an even more reliable service to the consumer, getting ripened product to them more cost effectively and more quickly. Yours Sincerely, [Redacted]