Today’s warehouses are bustling hubs of activity, brimming with innovation and achievement. Through our campaign, “2024: The Year of Warehousing,” the UK Warehousing Association is showcasing the impressive work happening at sites across the country. Warehouses aren’t just places to keep goods safe and regulate the relationship between supply and demand. While storage is still important, so are the many special tasks customers now expect, to make their supply chains more efficient and maybe even greener.
Recently, Baroness Angela Smith of Basildon, celebrated the opening of a new warehouse facility for UKWA member company The Finishing Line. Owner, Andy Mead, started this journey almost 40 years ago. His dedication to Basildon has created jobs and opportunities in the local community, centred around the manual fastening of free gifts, inserts and more, onto magazines. Andy’s dextrous team works with astonishing speed and accuracy to ensure every magazine looks the same. A task that defies automation.
Across London, Mantas Keblis of The Felix Project runs a handful of small warehouse operations. Every day, the charity receives all sorts of food donations, and their team of employees and volunteers works tirelessly to distribute it. In the shadow of Canary Wharf, there’s even a kitchen cooking up 4,000 ready-meals every day. The Felix Project’s goal is inspiring yet simple: to make sure nobody in London goes hungry and no good food goes to waste.
Heading up to the Midlands, start-up Rapid Pack Fulfilment expects to outgrow its 20,000 sq. ft warehouse soon. They already support over 60 clients with all kinds of services: not just e-commerce pick and pack, there is help with packaging, marketing, website design and a dedicated photographic studio on offer too. Rapid Pack’s success has earned praise from the Black Country Chamber of Commerce and local MP, Shaun Bailey. And when Founder, Ben Slater, met Zac Da Rocha of Hivebound at a UKWA event last year, they teamed up to develop a new tech solution that improved visibility and control of Ben’s goods-in processes. A great example of innovation through collaboration.
Having completed 25 of my 80 planned visits, I am nearly a third of the way into this mammoth adventure. People ask whether it’s becoming monotonous, but honestly nothing could be further from the truth.
Warehouses today are fascinating centres of activity, making a big impact in their communities, providing fantastic opportunities for their staff and carrying out all kinds of added value services for their customers. Roll on the next 55 visits!
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