News / UK supply chains ‘still working’ despite Gulf crisis fears, says Logistics UK

Claims that the UK is teetering on the precipice of supply chain collapse are overplayed, according to the recently installed chief executive of Logistics UK, who said the country had developed “real resilience” over the course of a decade epitomised by upheaval.

During an interview covering his first 100 days in the role and what needs to be done to make UK supply chains not just a facilitator of trade, but a facilitator of growth, Ben Fletcher pushed back on assertions that the country’s supply chains were buckling.

“Put simply: no,” Mr Fletcher told The Loadstar, when asked whether people needed to consider their options amidst an outpouring of headlines highlighting the UK’s exposure to yet another geopolitical flashpoint – this time, the conflict in the Persian Gulf.

“Having spoken to members in the different parts of the global supply chain, I think that their message to me, and what I would say that I’ve learned is that yes, there are incredible challenges at the moment, but there is real resilience,” he continued.

“We’ve talked to members who are not simply bypassing the Suez Canal, they are also not going around the southern tip of Africa and have instead opted to move shipments through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic.”

Warnings are swirling that the UK will “flirt” with recession as the steep upturn in the cost of fuel hits consumer wallets, while there have also been suggestions that the country could start running out of vital supplies.

Sources who spoke to The Loadstar have played down the severity of any shortages but have said there could be certain “luxuries” that are harder to come by. However, Mr Fletcher believes the damage done could be far less substantive.

“If the Gulf situation continues for a long period, it may be that things turn up slightly out of sequence, there may be delays in getting some things, but I don’t think we are going to fundamentally have any shortages,” he continued.

“I don’t think we’re going to find that things don’t get here. The issue could be if you’re having to literally go a longer way to get here, then there is a recognition that that means there will be a point at which maybe the supply chains are a little bit affected.”

Questioned about his assuredness on the issue, Mr Fletcher pointed to the experiences of the recent past, noting that the challenges presently being experienced were not even remotely close to that being contended with during the Pandemic.

In the interim, the supply chain sector has also been tested by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Houthi siege in the Red Sea, but with global production largely taking place and most ports running as normal, he said it was a question of transport.

“The issue is, how do you get shipments through a different route? And I think the big problem at the moment is really that the longer it takes, the more expensive it is, and that will have a knock-on effect on the market over time,” Mr Fletcher said.

“Clearly, if the situation in the Gulf gets noticeably worse or goes on for even longer than people fear, then you’d have to review that situation. But at the moment, the challenge is about the complexity, the cost, and the time of transport. But it’s still working.”

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