Last month, as heralded in the Department for Transport (DfT)’s Future of Freight Plan, government finally announced a multi-million pound tech fund to decarbonise freight and boost innovation. Its apparently exclusive focus on transport, and failure to so much as mention warehousing, was particularly disappointing, however, since the UK Warehousing Association has been highly supportive of the Future of Freight Plan. Last year, we welcomed DfT’s acknowledgement of warehousing as a vital part of the freight sector and its commitment to collaborate with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC), which has recently become our ‘home’ within government. It is therefore crucial that the £7m Freight Innovation Fund supports SMEs in the warehousing sector to develop greener and more efficient solutions.
Warehousing has grown substantially – perhaps by 50% over the past 6 years or so – and we have successfully demonstrated to government that Industrial and Logistics development is key to their focus on ‘Levelling Up’; a policy developed by Rishi Sunak himself, well before he got the top job. What’s more, the Future of Freight Plan sets out the government’s plan to identify a National Freight Network (NFN) across road, rail, maritime, inland waterway and warehouse infrastructure, so UKWA is determined to ensure that businesses operating in our sector are aware that plans for the future of freight – and eligibility to apply for support from the Freight Innovation Fund – includes them.
UKWA is committed to sustainability. Our industry must decarbonise, not only in terms of embodied carbon or built environment, but in operations too. For example, UKWA’s 2022 report into solar power showed that our sector could at least double the UK’s solar capacity by unlocking private investment potential for retrofitting solar panels onto warehouse rooftops. Accordingly, the Association is encouraging members on their journey to decarbonisation and will be happy to support those companies taking up the opportunity to bid for funding from government on R&D innovation projects.
The funding will be for £7m over three years and is designed to help clean our air, create UK jobs and allow people to get their packages and goods more quickly. The fund will go to up to 36 SMEs, who will then work with industry leading companies to develop innovations to make moving and storing freight more efficient, more resilient and greener. The aim is to roll out new technology that unlocks potential efficiencies and emissions reductions across the sector.
We are in contact with DfT, and have confirmed that the Freight Innovation Fund is not only cross-modal but also includes warehousing. We anticipate further information from the Connected Places Catapult in due course, which in turn we will share with our membership. As always, UKWA will put our members first, ensuring that warehousing innovation gets the government support it deserves.
Clare Bottle
UKWA, CEO
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