Friday 8 October 2021

Supply chain businesses confident in full covid recovery in 12 months

More than 70% of UK logistics and supply chain businesses are confident of a full covid recovery in the next 12 months.

That’s according to a new survey held by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT UK), which gathered the thoughts of more than 50 supply chain organisations including Amazon, DHL, John Lewis and the NHS Supply Chain.

Although 62% of respondents stated they were hit with major challenges such as supplier services and local logistics issues due to the pandemic, the majority are optimistic about the future.

Staff availability impacted 63.5% of the businesses and more than 50% had their warehousing and distribution systems changed due to social distancing measures which slowed down operations.

More than 72.5% of businesses said they had plans in place if they are to face similar challenges in the future.

Although most were hopeful of a return to normality within the next year, only 9% believed this would happen in the next three months – as most businesses see Christmas as another potential hurdle to overcome.

Kevin Richardson, CEO at CILT, commented: “Our member responses give a good indication of challenges across all supply chains and we recognise driver shortages and the Christmas period will continue to test our services.

“As many businesses look to recover in the coming months, these insights will support future planning and resilience.”