Central Poland, Prague and Bucharest are among the most desirable logistics locations in Europe, according to a new research by Prologis that examines why logistics customers in Europe choose certain locations over others.
Prologis Research and eyefortransport (eft) polled logistics operators across Europe between February and May 2017 and found that five main factors shape location selection in Europe: proximity to major consumption centres; regulatory environments; labour availability; transportation infrastructure; and total costs.
Among the report’s findings:
- Immediate access to major consumption centres is paramount.
- Major population centres with the highest consumption are increasingly important.
- Overall costs rank comparatively low in importance when weighed against other factors.
- Proximity of labour (e.g., in Western Europe, with the Netherlands a key example) and cost of labour (such as in Poland) have a direct influence on customer logistics decisions.
“It’s clear that a close and ready workforce and proximity to economic networks are crucial to logistics users,” said Dirk Sosef, Head of Prologis’ Research and Strategy Initiatives in Europe. “In this environment of logistics growth, policymakers should encourage investment in infrastructure and availability of a qualified workforce.”
The winners of the Prologis “Top 100 Most Desirable European Locations 2017 Awards” were:
- Venlo: Europe’s most desirable location out of the 100 locations included in the study.
- Düsseldorf/Rhein-Ruhr and its three sub-locations Hamm, Unna and Metropolitan region Ruhr: strongest improvement in the top 10.
- Lodz/Central Poland: best-performing market outside Western Europe.
