Archives



Business, Forwarding, Freight News, Logistics


Government creates £7m fund for greener freight

[ January 9, 2023   //   ]

The government has launched a £7 million fund to help small to medium-sized businesses to develop greener and more efficient solutions for freight.

Over the next three years, the Freight Innovation Fund (FIF) will go to up to 36 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who will then work with industry-leading companies to develop innovations to make freight more efficient, resilient and greener, such as ways to improve how freight moves between rail, road and maritime transport.

By giving innovators the opportunity to test their ideas, the fund aims to help SMEs roll out new technology and ways of working to unlock potentially efficiencies and emissions reductions.

The innovation fund was announced last year within the government’s Future of Freight Plan.

It aims in particular to address the lack of large-scale cross-industry data collection and sharing between different modes of freight transport, difficulties in inter-modal transport, and ways to improve how large consignments are broken up into smaller ones, which could reduce emissions and traffic. It also aims to tackle improvements in freight distribution in ports across different transport modes

The plan also explains how identifying a National Freight Network will help to better understand freight movements and their value to the economy.

New director general of the British International Freight Association, Stephen Parker, said in response: “One consequence of Brexit and the pandemic has been the spotlight that it has placed on the importance of freight and logistics on the health of the nation’s economy. So, we welcome the Government’s further recognition of the vital role that the freight industry plays in underpinning the economy and keeping Britain’s trade moving.
“BIFA members face requests from their clients to demonstrate how they are incorporating environmentally-focused policies into their business activities.
“So, any initiative that may help make the movement of freight more efficient, resilient and greener, is also welcomed by BIFA’s members that manage the physical supply chains of so many companies trading to and from the UK; as well as the domestic market.
“BIFA hopes that £7.0 million shared by up to 36 small and medium-sized enterprises will be enough to help them work with industry-leading companies to develop new technology and working practices that enable efficiencies to be developed, which help to reduce emissions across the sector.”
Policy director at Logistics UK, Kate Jennings, added: “This innovation fund will be a welcome route for our member organisations to develop and access the technologies needed for goods to be moved in an increasingly green and cost-efficient way.”

Tags: