It’s difficult to imagine that in the opening comments of our 2020 National Conference in March, we highlighted a report by the British Property Foundation that predicted online spending would double by 2040, driving requirement for 21m sq ft of extra warehousing every year for the next 20 years.
CEO at UKWA
Within a few short months, the global pandemic massively accelerated the curve, driving the growth of online shopping, particularly groceries, well beyond any previous predictions. This in turn increased focus on cost-effective fulfilment and delivery, created a record year for warehousing property take-up, and has put our industry in the spotlight, for the government and the public alike, as the sector responsible for keeping shelves stocked and food delivered to the doorstep throughout the crisis.
While those serving ‘essential’ sectors such as food and pharmaceutical, found themselves dealing with unexpected rises in demand, those operating in ‘non-essential’ spaces like fashion have suffered cashflow problems, slow customer payments and struggled to meet rental commitments. Accordingly, UKWA has been – and continues to – put the case to government for additional financial support for our sector to help mitigate these very real problems.
Our new ‘normal’ has become a COVID-secure environment, where the capital costs of keeping our workforces safe have been exacerbated by the related costs of reduced performance and lower productivity. A low margin industry like ours can ill-afford to bear these costs in the longer term and another key message from UKWA to online retailers and consumers is that going forward the current business model will be simply unsustainable.
As 2020 gives way to 2021, the other great driver of change is the UK’s departure from the EU.
UKWA has highlighted the huge additional burden an extra 200 million customs declarations will create and has expressed concern that neither our industry nor the traders we serve are ‘Brexit-ready’; moreover, the availability of the warehousing space we will undoubtedly need is rapidly diminishing.
However, looking ahead to 2021, our outlook is generally positive. UKWA has several initiatives that will be rolled out in the New Year, including a new digital self-auditing tool, designed to protect members’ businesses by ensuring compliance and driving continuous improvement, as well as an exciting project with the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing to promote the integration of IoT (Internet of Things) with WMS platforms, to capture efficiencies and drive productivity in logistics and warehousing.
Main Events in 2021:
1. UKWA National Conference 2021, date to be confirmed
2. UKWA Annual Lunch & Awards 2021, 16th June 2021
3. UKWA Annual Parliamentary Luncheon, date to be confirmed.
UKWA
0207 636 8856
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