Leaders of 30 major UK businesses have urged the Government to ensure the logistics industry is made a cornerstone of the new Industrial Strategy, due to be published in the coming months.
Led by business group Logistics UK, businesses including Amazon, Heathrow Airport and Tesco Stores are urging Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to acknowledge the critical role that effective supply chains play in all parts of the economy, including the growth-driving sectors already recognised by the Government.
David Wells, chief executive of Logistics UK, said: “Our sector must be recognised as a key partner in the Government’s economic and business growth plans. Otherwise, the plan for growth will be set up to fail before it even starts.
“The Government’s Industrial Strategy Green Paper rightly introduces the concept of ‘foundational sectors’ that provide critical inputs and infrastructure to our growth-driving sectors, and the case for recognising logistics as such a sector is undeniable.”
Wells continued: “Effective logistics is the foundation of any successful economic activity, whatever the industry. To create an industrial strategy that does not improve the efficiency of the movement of goods would be a huge, missed opportunity, and throttle growth in other sectors.”
Logistics UK also spotlighted the connection between the efficiency of logistics and the growth potential of the economy.
The World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index has seen the UK fall from fourth to 19th over the past decade, due largely to road congestion and delays, friction at borders and a long-term lack of investment in transport infrastructure.
Oxford Economics has found that getting the policy and infrastructure environment right for logistics would unlock up to £8bn a year in productivity led growth.
Wells added: “Recognising the important role that logistics must play as a foundational sector in the forthcoming Industrial Strategy, with a voice on the Industrial Council, will enable our sector to achieve the maximum impact possible for the country, and ensure that we are all focused on driving the growth we know is possible for the UK, its businesses and its long term prosperity in the coming months and years.”
Signatories to the letter sent to the Business and Trade Secretary this week are:
ADM Milling (UK) – managing director, Ashley Fuller
Amazon Logistics – vice president, Kerry-Anne Lawlor
Ceva Logistics – managing director contract logistics UKIN, Huw Jenkins
DHL Supply Chain UK&I – CEO, Saul Resnick
DP World – executive vice president – northern Europe, Mark Rosenberg
Evri – CEO, Martijn de Lange
Freightliner Group – CEO, Tim Shoveller
Grid Smarter Cities – CEO, Neil Herron
GXO – managing director UK and Ireland, Gavin Williams
Heathrow Airport – chief executive, Thomas Woldbye
Howard Tenens Limited – chief executive officer, Jamie Hartles
Indurent – chief executive officer, Julian Carey
Kuehne + Nagel UK – managing director, Pamela Quinn
Logistics UK – chief executive, David Wells OBE
Maersk Logistics and Services UK – managing director, Gary Jeffreys
Maritime Transport – deputy chief executive officer, Tom Williams
Nestlé UK – head of logistics, Richard Hastings
Owens Group – group managing director, Huw Owen
Palletways (UK) – managing director, Robert Gittins
Port of Dover – chief executive, Doug Bannister
R Swains & Sons – finance director, Stuart Rigby
Royal Mail – chief executive, Emma Gilthorpe
Rudolph and Hellmann Automotive – chief executive officer, James Hamilton
Scania (Great Britain) Limited – managing director, Chris Newitt
Segro – managing director UK, James Craddock
Tesco Stores – UK CEO, Matthew Barnes
The Malcolm Group – CEO, Andrew Malcolm
TIP-Group – managing director for UK & Ireland, Mike Furnival
Uniserve Group – Group chief commercial and operating officer, Gary Cobbing
Wincanton – chief executive officer, James Wroath
