Reading, UK: In business, in politics, and in households up and down the country the five years since the UK last went to the polls for a general election have been unsettled and frenetic. From global factors such as the Covid pandemic, war in Ukraine, and widespread economic fragility; to the UK’s uniquely national experiences including ‘getting Brexit done’, the short-lived Liz Truss premiership, and our first change of monarch in more than 70 years.
As our nation readies to go to the polls again later this year, we can expect the media spotlight to focus largely on the political parties’ policies relating to domestic finances, the healthcare crisis and immigration. Cold Chain Federation members can rest assured that your Federation’s spotlight will be firmly focused on the priority issues for the operation and development of temperature-controlled logistics.
Over the coming months we will be seeking commitments from all parties to a range of policies that will help our industry fulfil its great potential over the next electoral term and long into the future.
Today, we launch the Cold Chain Manifesto – Cold Chain: The Vital Link to Turbocharging UK Growth & Security. This sets out for political stakeholders the policies we propose, how government can support temperature-controlled logistics, and why this backing matters for the nation’s food supply and healthcare system as well as for the next government’s ambitions for economic growth, energy security and net zero.
The Cold Chain Manifesto is our call to action for the next government to work with our industry as we seek to embrace innovation and new technologies, to accelerate our progress on sustainability, and to embed resilience into the UK’s food and pharma supply chains. At its heart is the vision for our industry to be able to continue our growth and evolution into the cold chain that will be needed to serve the UK of the future.
The Manifesto sets out our proposed policies across five priority areas: recognising the value of the cold chain, sustainability and energy efficiency, enabling emission-free transport refrigeration, developing the next generation of cold chain talent, and removing barriers to trade.
To pick out just a few of these proposed policies, in the Manifesto we make the case for a long-term plan for investing in cold chain infrastructure; and for grant-based support for new technologies to help the sector achieve net zero, especially around transport refrigeration units.
We also propose within the document that the next government renews focus on skills and training for the cold chain workforce, and designates the cold chain to a Cabinet Office Ministerial portfolio. To read the full Cold Chain Manifesto, visit www.coldchainfederation.org.uk/download/ccf-general-election-manifesto/.
Over the coming weeks and months, the CCF team will be discussing this Manifesto in meetings with ministers, shadow ministers, sitting MPs and new candidates from all the major UK parties. We will also be making the case for our Manifesto policies with Peers in the House of Lords, elected Mayors and civil service officials.
We will demonstrate the reality of these issues to politicians and policy makers by bringing them to talk with individual Cold Chain Federation members at their facilities, and through discussions with a large cohort of industry leaders at our third annual parliamentary reception in the House of Commons in May.
We will also continue to work with other organisations where we have shared our complementary aims, such as our Generation Logistics partners on policies related to cold chain recruitment and skills.
The cold chain message to politicians is most powerful when it is delivered by you alongside your federation. Please contact us at liam@coldchainfed.org.uk if you would like to volunteer to host a visit from a politician or candidate to your facility, to take part in a CCF media campaign, or to contact the candidates vying to represent your constituency and tell them about the Cold Chain Manifesto.
Our industry is vibrant, forward-facing and essential for the UK’s economy, environment, and health. We face important challenges but the future is also full of exciting opportunities that can not only steer our own growth and development but can also help spur the UK’s economic growth, improve food standards, and make important contributions toward net zero. Working together, government and industry can ensure this potential is unlocked. The Cold Chain Federation will be ensuring that this election year lays the groundwork for a policy environment that truly supports temperature-controlled logistics operators as we turn our industry’s future vision into reality.
