UK warehouses approach capacity as companies stock for Brexit | Policy

Three-quarters of UK warehouse owners say their space is saturated and storage costs have risen 25% in the last three months, as a result of an increase in the number of employees. Brexit-related surveys.

The UK Warehousing Association (UKWA), whose 750 members have more than 9.3 million square meters of free space throughout the country, said that there was a lack of space near the big cities to store goods in case of blockage in the ports ideal output of the EU.

A survey conducted last month by UKWA members across the country revealed that 85% of them had received inquiries regarding Brexit. About 75% have not been able to accept more new clients.

Companies are looking for stored products ranging from food ingredients to cat food, packaging and finished consumer goods, to ensure that stocks are not depleted in case of no agreement or agreement with the company. 39 EU slowing the free movement of goods. goods.

Richard Perriman, UK manager of supply chain development at Horizon Cargo, which has a warehouse of 7,430 sqm that can accommodate up to 6,000 pallets near the road. M20 access to Dover, said that the capacity of his site was slightly greater than his capacity. opened in 2017.

"We have seen more and more unsolicited requests from foolish people looking for space. We discuss almost daily with customers the impact of Brexit on them. "

He added that the company had recorded a sharp increase in the number of investigations starting last August and that it now received three to four per week, compared to one or two a month before. He added that Horizon had been asked about the storage of a wide variety of products, including carpet tiles, telecommunications equipment and food.

Peter Ward, CEO of UKWA, said: "We are facing a perfect storm in the warehousing and logistics sector." The prospect of a Brexit without agreement had increased demand at a time when few developers were building storage space. without confirmed tenants as priority was given to urban land for housing construction. At the same time, the demand for space on the part of online retailers was increasing, while warehouses were facing a "serious shortage of labor and Eastern Europe returning home after the vote on Brexit.

Industry sources said the cost of warehouses had increased by a quarter in the last three months of 2018, fears of lack of agreement exacerbating capacity problems caused by the growing demand of online retailers.

It is understood that the storage of pharmaceuticals, managed by five UK licensed operators, is saturated, while frozen and chilled warehouses, ranging from garden peas to half-baked supermarket bread and chilled potatoes, are fully booked until beyond April.

The Federation of Food Storage and Distribution (FSDF), which represents 350 warehouse owners and 75% of all frozen and refrigerated food warehouses available commercially in the country, said its members were refusing customers.

Tesco has rented frozen food containers outside its larger stores for the rest of the year. It normally uses containers only to meet the high Christmas demand.

Earlier this month, Amazon wrote to UK-based merchants selling on its platform to suggest they consider sending stocks to its European warehouse to prevent any export delays.

Manufacturers like Bentley to pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi, folding bike manufacturer Brompton and Premier Foods – which manufactures Bisto, Sharwood's and Kipling – have all announced plans to stockpile stocks.

A warehousing expert told The Guardian that large pharmaceutical, alcoholic beverage, tobacco, and auto companies had plans in place because their products were expensive and durable, which allowed them to absorb more easily storage costs.

But he added that it was much more difficult for food companies to stock their stocks because of the shorter shelf life of their products and lower prices. "It costs the same price to store a load of pallet chips as whiskey," he said.