Leaders from 30 major UK businesses have signed a letter to the business secretary urging him to ensure that the logistics industry is central to the government’s Industrial Strategy.
The letter to Jonathan Reynolds MP regarding the strategy, which is due in the next few months, was led by business group Logistics UK and included Amazon, Heathrow Airport and Tesco Stores.
It urges the UK Government “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”, it said.
The business leaders are clear that making the transportation of goods more efficient is fundamental to growth across the whole economy, and that the logistics sector must therefore have a voice in the development of future economic plans by being represented on the new Industrial Strategy Council.
David Wells OBE, Chief Executive of Logistics UK, said:
“Nothing in the economy moves without logistics: it provides our hospitals, schools, factories and shops with everything they need, everywhere, every day.
“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 added that “effective logistics is the foundation of any successful economic activity, whatever the industry”, and “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.”
He said the efficiency of logistics and growth are “completely intertwined”, but the The World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index has seen the UK fall from fourth to 19th over the past decade, due largely to congestion and delays on our roads, friction at our borders, and a long-term lack of investment in our transport infrastructure.
Oxford Economics has found that getting the policy and infrastructure environment right for logistics would unlock up to £8 billion a year in productivity-led growth, Wells added.
Signatories to the letter include:
ADM Milling (UK) Ltd – 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 Ltd – CEO, Martijn de Lange
Freightliner Group Ltd. – 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 Ltd – Managing Director, Pamela Quinn
Logistics UK – Chief Executive, David Wells OBE
Maersk Logistics and Services UK Ltd – Managing Director, Gary Jeffreys
Maritime Transport Ltd – Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Tom Williams
Nestlé UK – Head of Logistics, Richard Hastings
Owens Group – Group Managing Director, Huw Owen
Palletways (UK) Limited – Managing Director, Robert Gittins
Port of Dover – Chief Executive, Doug Bannister
R Swains & Sons Limited – Finance Director, Stuart Rigby
Royal Mail – Chief Executive, Emma Gilthorpe
Rudolph and Hellmann Automotive Ltd – Chief Executive Officer, James Hamilton
Scania (Great Britain) Limited – Managing Director, Chris Newitt
Segro – Managing Director UK, James Craddock
Tesco Stores Ltd– UK CEO, Matthew Barnes
The Malcolm Group – CEO, Andrew Malcolm
TIP-Group – Managing Director for the UK & Ireland, Mike Furnival
Uniserve Group – Group Chief Commercial and Operating Officer, Gary Cobbing
Wincanton – Chief Executive Officer, James Wroath
Image from Shutterstock
