Achieving more for members

As the Director of Policy and Communications, I oversee Logistics UK’s engagement with all our main stakeholder groups including members, policy makers, government and the media.

The main aim of my expert team is to understand what our members need, through our Councils and working groups, and translate that in to changes in government policy and regulation. Much of this work happens behind the scenes, in responding to consultations, gathering member feedback, and regular dialogue with civil servants and ministers across a number of government departments. But some of it is very visible – and over the last few years we have increased our voice in the media and social media by over 3,000%. This work is backed up by a team that keeps members up to date with a range of reports, research, bulletins and events.

All of this expertise and hard work does make a real difference for members. Recently, some of our important policy wins include: the Spring Budget announcing the freeze on fuel duty and continuation of the 5 pence per litre cut for an additional 12 months, securing a second year of Generation Logistics (helping win the war for talent and securing the skills we need for the future) and the launch of the Department for Business and Trade’s Critical Imports and Supply Chain Strategy.

I’ve been at Logistics UK now for over seven years. But before I joined, I had a career spanning a number of large corporates including Capita, Logica, Mitie, Balfour Beatty, PwC and KPMG. I was excited by the opportunity to join and influence an organisation which could help shape and support a sector so important to the UK economy. In the earlier parts of my career, I had the opportunity to work on the sale and implementation of a number of ground-breaking public-private partnerships – such as congestion charging in London, the establishment of the Criminal Records Bureau, the launch of ‘Boris Bikes’ in London, and delivery of major parts of HS2.

Looking ahead

I am very focused on our core mission to achieve even more for our members. That means continuing to grow our influence with government and raising our voice across the media to help shape policy and educate the general public.

There has definitely been a shift in awareness – especially on the back of disruption caused by EU Exit and COVID-19 and the explanatory work that my team undertook to clarify the situation. Of course, without logistics, nothing works – and government, media and consumers have started to realise how important supply chains and logistics are to the economy. In a recent research project with Ipsos Mori, we identified that four out of five adults in the UK see efficient logistics as fundamental to economic growth, and that households, businesses and public services all depend on logistics. Less than a third think that the sector gets enough support.

Logistics UK is the only business group that represents all of logistics, with members from the road, rail, water and air sectors, as well as the buyers of freight services such as retailers and manufacturers whose businesses depend on the efficient movement of goods. So we represent something that’s really big, critical and important to the whole economy, and that certainly helps us to achieve great policy outcomes for our members.

It’s also a particularly interesting time with a general election looming. With input and guidance from a wide range of members, we recently published our UK manifesto, titled "Unleashing the power of logistics to driver growth across the whole economy.”

We really want to focus the attention of policy makers (and potential policy makers) on the importance of logistics to the economy, and the opportunity (with the right policies and investment) to unlock and drive growth across the whole economy. Our manifesto sets out the logistics industry’s plan for how to do this, focusing on decarbonisation, skills, infrastructure and trade. These themes form the cornerstone of how we can harness the power of logistics to drive growth for everyone.  I think this confident and output-driven manifesto marks a step change in the way we talk about the industry, and the way others perceive it.

I’d like to encourage all of our members to engage in our democratic structure – the meetings and working groups which help to set our campaigning priorities.  That way, when we achieve even more for members, it’s more of the things that are important to you!

Published On: 18/04/2024 16:49:54

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