5 years ago today Tekeurope completed its move to new premises in Newton Abbot, leaving behind the old building in Totnes. The following 5 years have seen big changes to the new building as well as the business itself. Today we look back at the move and subsequent development of the new site.

January 2020: Moving the business

After months of planning the move to Newton Abbot began. The move was carried out entirely by Tekeurope staff with the business remaining open throughout, offering an uninterrupted service to customers.

The first and also largest task was moving the contents of the warehouse including all stock to the new site and rebuilding all shelving, racking etc. there. This led to stock being split across 2 locations adding to the logistical challenge of shipping orders, including those requiring immediate same day despatch.

Following the completion of work on the warehouse, equipment from the offices and workshops were moved across with the first working day at the new site on February 3rd.

March 2020: Covid-19 lockdown

Less than 2 months later the pandemic had hit the UK and lockdown was in effect. The initial planned work, including improvements to the building were put on hold.

During this period the company put into place a number of measures to keep employees and other site visitors safe. This included operating with a smaller team on site and social distancing measures. This was accomplished whilst maintaining the same service levels for customers.

Hand wash stations were installed as well as temperature checks carried out on people entering the building.

As restrictions began to lift and normality began to return, extensive building work began to be undertaken.

Building work- Solar Panels, charging points and a meeting room

Since 2021 work has taken place to significantly improve the building. This started with the replacement of the entire roof and the installation of solar panels. Taking place over 2 weekends, the power produced by the installed panels provides for more than 90% of the company’s onsite energy needs.

The focus on energy efficiency continued with the next round of work. New LED energy efficient lighting was installed in the office, followed by the warehouse, in late 2021 and early 2022 respectively.  As well as new lighting the energy from the solar panels could be further utilised by the new electric car charging points, installed after the warehouse lighting.

Next in the scheduled building work was the creation of a new training and meeting room. Located next to the office, the room features a large touch screen display for video calling and presentations. At the side are laptop docking stations and network access points allowing work on online and other training courses.

Tekeurope becomes a Customs Warehouse

In 2023 Tekeurope became an authorised customs warehouse. This move was undertaken in order to provide greater efficiency and speed when importing or exporting goods. It was part of a series of measures put in place by the company after Brexit including extensive staff customs training and the opening of Tekeurope’s Spanish distribution centre.

In order to hold this accreditation new security measures were put in place at the company, including the installation of 24 CCTV cameras.