L Marks and Thames Freeport Open Applications for Ports & Logistics Innovation Lab Across Three Nationally Significant Industrial Sites

LONDON, July 13, 2026 – L Marks and Thames Freeport have opened applications for the Ports & Logistics Innovation Lab, a programme inviting innovators to validate their technologies in live industrial environments at DP World London Gateway, the Port of Tilbury and Ford Dagenham.

Thames Freeport, strategically located along the River Thames, serves as a global gateway to London, Europe’s most economically active consumer market. By combining advanced manufacturing, logistics and sustainable construction with modern infrastructure, the Freeport is building a globally competitive environment for research and development. Supported by tax incentives and extensive connectivity, it has already attracted over £2 billion of investment and created more than 1,400 jobs, with the ambition to support 21,000 jobs in the years ahead. With 1,700 acres of development land, Thames Freeport is positioned to deliver long-term socioeconomic value and to support the UK’s transition to a high-tech, low-carbon economy.

The Ports & Logistics Innovation Lab is Thames Freeport’s third programme, building on the success of the Connectivity Lab, which drew nearly 150 applications from global organisations and embedded eight selected companies inside the same three sites, and the Healthcare Innovation Lab, which took free health screening directly to communities across Barking & Dagenham, Havering and Thurrock.

Each programme set out to tackle a different challenge. This one turns to a new set of operational priorities, across visibility, asset performance and customer growth.

Through its Innovation Labs, Thames Freeport brings together industry, innovators, researchers and the public sector to address operational challenges at commercial scale, improving productivity while creating jobs, attracting international investment and building healthier communities across the region.

Delivered in partnership with strategic innovation delivery partner L Marks, the labs are designed to identify, validate and implement solutions that address operational challenges while creating lasting economic and social impact.

The programme enables participating companies to validate their technologies in conditions that reflect the scale, complexity and safety-critical nature of port and manufacturing operations, giving innovators infrastructure to develop and test solutions with global relevance.

Selected participants will have the opportunity to collaborate with the operational and technical teams at DP World London Gateway, the Port of Tilbury and Ford Dagenham in structured test-and-learn cycles, gaining access to live operational scenarios to refine their solutions, with the potential to scale successful innovations within the partners’ operations.

“The Ports & Logistics Innovation Lab is exactly the kind of programme Thames Freeport was created to deliver. We have three nationally significant industrial sites, across three local authorities, with world-class operators and a shared ambition to make the Thames Freeport region a testbed for the future of logistics, manufacturing and low-carbon growth. This programme gives innovators the chance to prove their solutions in live, complex environments where the impact can be immediate and scalable. For Thames Freeport, this is about more than technology; it is about unlocking productivity, attracting investment and creating better, greener opportunities for businesses and communities across our region.”
– Tom White, Director Innovation and Net Zero at Thames Freeport

“We are excited to be doing this again, after Thames Freeport previously identified several innovative solutions for the Connectivity Lab. We look forward to the applications and creativity of the next round.”
– Ross McKissock, Director of Unitised, Forth Ports – Tilbury

“The Ports & Logistics Innovation Lab is the latest programme delivered through our strategic partnership with Thames Freeport, building on previous initiatives that have demonstrated how our Innovation Lab model can deliver measurable value across connectivity, healthcare and now industrial operations. By giving innovators the opportunity to work directly with DP World London Gateway, the Port of Tilbury and Ford Dagenham, we’re enabling promising solutions to be tested and refined against genuine operational challenges at industrial scale. It’s this process of identifying, validating and implementing innovation that creates measurable value for industry while strengthening the UK’s competitiveness and wider economy.”
– Daniel Saunders, CEO of L Marks

The Lab is scouting solutions across four challenge areas:

Vehicle Logistics Operations

Solutions that replace manual workflows with a connected operations layer, giving real-time visibility of vehicles across the site, removing manual data entry, managing space and capacity constraints, reducing empty vehicle movements, and modelling site flow to plan ahead.

Occupier Engagement & Estate Intelligence

Solutions that elevate the campus experience and strengthen site security, help occupiers discover services and log issues in one place, send targeted site-wide alerts, and automate incident detection, site inspection including blind spots, and maintenance tickets raised from detected issues.

Port Operations Intelligence

Solutions that turn terminal data into real-time insight to drive decision-making and predictive asset management, bring siloed information into a single operational picture, give on-shift teams clear recommendations to act on, forecast equipment failure before it happens across assets, and automate condition monitoring of critical infrastructure and site inspection.

Wildcard

The Wildcard category is open to solutions that fall outside the three challenge areas but have the potential to create operational value for the Freeport, including technologies proven in other sectors or ports globally, or approaches that rethink an established way of working.

The programme is seeking market-ready solutions with a proven team and demonstrated traction.

How to apply

Apply here.
Applications close on August 30, 2026.

ENDS

About Thames Freeport

Thames Freeport is shaping a next generation growth zone along the River Thames, where innovation, investment and skills come together to deliver economic and community impact. Covering Thurrock in South Essex and the London boroughs of Havering and Barking and Dagenham, Thames Freeport brings together nationally significant ports, industrial sites and development land to support the industries of the future. Its focus is on turning innovation into delivery, improving productivity, strengthening supply chains and creating good jobs. Backed by the government and working in partnership with global operators, businesses and local authorities, Thames Freeport supports growth across advanced manufacturing, sustainable construction, logistics, food and drink, clean energy and digital innovation. Every investment is designed to unlock opportunity for local people, linking economic growth to skills, jobs and more resilient communities.

About L Marks

Thames Freeport’s strategic innovation delivery partner, L Marks is the global leader in corporate innovation, trusted by many of the world’s most well-respected brands and organisations to identify, validate, and implement transformative solutions. Through its global network spanning over 80 countries, L Marks discovers more than 10,000 innovators annually and has enabled over 500 to pilot with corporate partners, achieving an industry-leading deployment rate of 78%. Their alumni have collectively raised over $9.4 billion in venture funding. With over a decade of experience in delivering 120+ award-winning innovation programmes across Europe, North America, and Asia, L Marks is embedding new structures and technologies, driving an innovative culture, and ultimately fuelling sustainable growth. To learn more, visit lmarks.com.