London, UK: The UK Warehousing Association is to launch a high profile, year-long campaign next year to highlight the critical role of warehousing in supply chains.
The campaign will show the sector’s contribution to the UK economy, employment of 1m people, and the key role it is set to play in embracing solar power to achieve UK’s net zero goals.
The Year of Warehousing will coincide with the 80th anniversary of the association’s inception in 1944, Clare Bottle, chief executive, UK Warehousing Association, said: “Warehousing remains one of the fastest growing, yet least understood sectors in the UK. This is partly because people rarely see what happens inside these often vast buildings, where millions of products are processed every day.
“Accordingly, the essential work warehouses do has always been ‘behind the scenes’ and therefore to a large extent under-appreciated. However, as our role becomes increasingly central to everyday lives, it’s time to turn the spotlight onto all the great work we do and for the warehousing sector to be more widely recognised by government, media and the general public for its achievements.”
Warehousing is changing rapidly as traditional High Street tasks are being forced back up the supply chain by e-commerce, whilst quasi-manufacturing activities like assembling gift-packs or printing T-shirts are pushed downstream. Warehouses have also become hubs for returns management, recycling, up-cycling and repairs, helping reduce waste as part of the circular economy.
As a result, warehouse buildings are becoming larger and higher to accommodate this additional activity. 1% of the 4000 largest warehouses in the UK are so-called ‘mega-sheds’ of over 1m sq ft and this trend is set to continue. Automation and robotics are being adopted increasingly, improving productivity and supporting workforce wellbeing, while sustainability is baked into new buildings to reduce emissions and control costs.
Warehouse rooftops offer huge potential for generating clean, affordable solar power, as UKWA’s landmark report confirmed. This will place intense focus firmly on the sector as the government looks towards industrial rooftop installations to contribute a third of its 2035 target to increase solar capacity by nearly fivefold. Many warehouse operators have already embarked on this journey.
“Marking the 80th anniversary of the UK Warehousing Association, the 2024 ‘Year of Warehousing’ campaign will showcase the considerable social and economic benefits of warehousing, introduce exciting new initiatives, and step up support for UKWA members,” Bottle said.
“As part of the celebrations, in addition to the 80 warehouse visits and a series of planned events for members, in 2024 we will be introducing the first independently accredited Warehouse Manager CPC qualification, commissioning a definitive property report into the current UK warehousing landscape, and unveiling a new solar rooftop installation toolkit.”
