Copart announces plan to double Scottish capacity

Remarketing and recycling experts Copart UK has secured final planning permission for a 31-acre site in East Kilbride, near Glasgow, which will double its operational capabilities in Scotland.

The new site is expected to be fully operational in 2023.

It continues an expansion programme that also includes last year’s major new customer service centre in Bedford, the quadrupling in size of it Bristol Operation Centre, and a new 68-acre UK ‘Super Centre’ in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Phil Briggs, Copart UK’s director of operation centres, transport and engineering, said: “We’re passionate about continuously growing and improving our services to customers, so we’re very excited to secure final planning permission for our new Operation Centre in East Kilbride, which will provide annual storage capacity for over 49,000 vehicles.

“Alongside our existing 30-acre site in Whitburn, it offers the potential for Copart to handle around 100,000 cars per year across Scotland, doubling our operational capabilities in this part of the UK. With extreme weather events increasing in Scotland, the provision of latent storage capacity is more important than ever.”

Meanwhile, Jane Pocock, managing director of Copart UK & Ireland, added: “We’re delighted to extend our investment programme into Scotland, further strengthening our unrivalled operational capabilities in this part of the UK in line with the continued growth of the UK car parc and the ever-changing needs of our customers.

“Because of the strategic and unrivalled positioning of our sites across the UK, we are proud to say that we are never far from communities, and therefore our customers. This means we can collect and handle vehicles quickly, efficiently, and with minimal environmental impact, supporting our ongoing Plan-Net-Zero sustainability commitment.”