January is an important month for UK businesses, which have just made it through the Black Friday, Christmas shopping and Boxing Day sales boom. In the final two months of 2023, British consumers spent approximately £24 billion online, a 3.7 per cent increase on the previous year.
Disruptive trends are sweeping the UK, and our world of warehousing and logistics is far from immune.
WE HAVE seen astronomical energy price rises for businesses. It’s hard to ascertain whether this is down to crises such as the war in Ukraine, with the hope that it may ease in the future, or whether it is now baked in due to deeper structural changes.
THIS ISSUE we take look at warehouse property, an investor’s goldmine driven equally by the insatiable demand for space caused by eCommerce and scarcity caused by lack of space and tight planning laws.
It is very interesting to see Asda adapt its stance to last mile in its latest consultation. The review comes less than a month after venture capitalists bought a controlling stake in the firm.
A fulfilment technology specialist is advocating warehouse management as an increasingly pivotal role in any company hierarchy and supply chain – as well as a higher level career path – because of the extraordinary logistical challenges we all now work in, says SnapFulfil CEO Tony Dobson.
There has long been a crisis in UK warehousing. The sustained growth of eCommerce throughout the last ten years has changed the dynamics of logistics in the UK profoundly, creating a demand for warehousing and delivery space close to centres of population that has not been easily met.
The new market angle could be most important as Ocado makes two ambitious robotic tech acquisitions.
I recently heard a great quote from Skechers logistics VP Sophie Houtmeyers, saying even when the world stops turning, logistics doesn’t stop.
When Covid struck, this presented a multitude of issues, namely managing the expedited shift to online consumer purchasing and changing demand for products, as well as consideration of the resilience of our distribution networks.
DHL and McKinsey’s recent Delivering Pandemic Resilience white paper on the challenges of supplying a Covid-19 vaccine worldwide, brought home a shocking, if not surprising, point.
The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics showed the damage to the economy wrought by the pandemic. GDP fell by 20.4% in April, following a fall of 5.8% in March.
At the time of writing we are entering a new phase of the pandemic. The Government is not exactly rushing people back to work but is certainly trying to get some sectors such as manufacturing and construction moving again in a meaningful way.
The rise of eCommerce is a bright spot in a gloomy economic landscape but it is also bringing new problems and new battlegrounds for old problems.
The price of oil impacts on more than meets the eye. Not just the petrol in the car or the diesel in the truck, but as an ingredient in the composite price of almost everything we consume every day. Now there is a suggestion of criminal price fixing. We need to know the truth.
Marks and Spencer has under-invested in its supply chain over the last few decades, leading to relatively sluggish and unresponsive performance that has held the business back.
It’s good to see hotly tipped products pass through the design & trial phase and come to fruition.
The Dartford Crossing has been a congestion pinch point for a long time but the upcoming development of the London Gateway port creates yet more pressure for smoothing the way.
The salient points for road and rail from Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander’s speech outlining the Government’s investment plans in the House of Commons today.
Every now and then an initiative really catches the eye. In this case it is the collaboration between the mechanical engineering gurus at Cambridge University, and the logistics boffins at Heriot-Watt University, which have joined forces to form the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight (CfSRF).
Western Business Media,
Dorset House, 64 High Street,
East Grinstead, RH19 3DE
01342 314 300
[email protected]
© Western Business Media, 2026. All rights reserved.
