In November CEMEX UK celebrated the one-year anniversary of the opening of our rail depot in Small Heath, Birmingham.

In this time over 182 rail movements have been safely completed and approximately 300KT of material has travelled through the site.

The opening of the Small Heath rail depot has not only enabled us to better serve the Birmingham metro market, but it has also given us considerable sustainability benefits, maximising the use of rail as a more efficient means of transport for our products.

During the past year our Small Heath Operations have removed 15,000 less trucks off some of Birmingham’s busiest roads, with an approximate CO₂ savings of 1,900 tonnes.

Mark Grimshaw Smith, Head of Rail & Sea – UK commented: “As the UK’s second largest city, Birmingham plays an important role in our strategy to focus on metro markets and the opening of this depot has allowed us to increase volume and service provision. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard during the past 12 months to make Small Heath depot operations a success – sustainably and safely!”

Phil Constable, Commercial Manager for Aggregates UK North, commented: “The opening of Small Heath has been a huge success for CEMEX. It was secured through the hard work and collaboration of the Operations, Supply Chain and Commercial teams within the Midlands business. Fundamentally, through partnering and working closely with our key strategic aggregate customers in the Birmingham metro market, it has enabled us to sustainably secure significant volumes to both the general market and crucially to major infrastructure projects such as HS2.”

Stuart Wood, Aggregate Sales Executive – West Midlands, also commented: “It’s been a fantastic year!

The success of the site has been brilliant to be part of. Being involved in planning and operational meetings from the site’s infancy has been personally fulfilling and I really feel an involvement in the sites progress both commercially and operationally. There’s still a lot more we can get from the site and it’s great to see interest in further development. All involved deserve a “pat on the back!”

CEMEX’s use of trains to move its building materials is growing year on year, with considerable efforts being made by the business to switch from road freight to rail and sea. This aligns with CEMEX’s efforts to enhance the sustainability of its operation as part of its ‘Future in Action – Committed to Net Zero CO₂’ strategy.