Freight News, Logistics

UKWA chief dismayed by Brexit turmoil

[ January 17, 2019   //   Chris ]

UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) chief executive Peter Ward has added his voice to other industry spokespeople expressing dismay at the rejection of Theresa May’s Brexit plan by the House of Commonson 15 January.
He said: “Frustratingly, as imperfect and unpopular as Mrs May’s deal proved to be, it was the only evident mechanism to provide the business community with a level of clarity and certainty and, had it been passed, a road map around which to plan.”
For the past 18 months UKWA has been advising its members to prepare for an upsurge in demand for warehousing, whatever the final outcome of Brexit, also pointing out that Brexit has exposed a number of challenges facing the logistics sector – including shortage of capacity after a long period during which little speculative development of storage buildings took place, a looming labour and skills shortage, and a land use planning policy in need of review.
Peter Ward added: “I am in no doubt that our resilient and creative logistics industry will, as always, find solutions to whatever problems are thrown up by the UK’s exit from the EU. However, it would help to know what form those challenges are likely to take, but, as things stand, the outlook is confused and we urge businesses to prepare for the worst, which is a ‘no deal’ Brexit.”

Tags: UKWA; Brexit