Saving British steel is a landmark achievement, which has simultaneously returned Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) to the top of the political agenda. Industries including rail, broadband, and electricity have been recognised by successive governments as CNI, taking centre stage in ongoing Parliamentary debates over coordinated investment, and even calls for nationalisation.
Much less has been said about the critical role logistics infrastructure plays in securing our domestic supply chain, delivering goods such as food, medicine, and electronics to homes across the country.
The loss of domestic virgin steel production would be devastating for the manufacturing and construction industries that it serves. But it’s not the only infrastructure at risk. The chaos that followed Heathrow’s recent power outage demonstrated how a single disruption can threaten an entire ecosystem — and disruption seems to be happening with disturbing frequency.
Manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution infrastructure is the truest and most vulnerable foundation of the entire British economy. If it continues to be under resourced, we risk wreaking havoc on our everyday lives.
Modern expectations of next-day delivery, smooth returns, and tracking technology — not to mention our country’s commitment to green targets — are all reliant on WiFi, AGVs, robotics, and smart material handling equipment.
Likewise, temperature-controlled warehouses, essential for storing food and medicine, depend on uninterrupted electrical power to maintain safe storage conditions.
This is also true of data centres, where power supply constraints are one of the major obstacles to development. In fact, in some areas of the UK there is a ten-year waiting list for access to power.
In a power-constrained economy, plug-and-play energy infrastructure won’t just be an occupier perk but an operational necessity.
Coinciding with these challenges, Trump’s tariff measures are the latest indication that globalisation may be less stable than we think. If steel was the linchpin of Britain’s industrial power, then domestic supply chains for material goods and data are the foundations of a protectionist, technology-driven global landscape. Some 40% of the UK logistics real estate market has been built since 2015, indicating its integral role in facilitating our modern British economy.
Against a context of deglobalisation, the UK must broaden its criteria for CNI projects and consider the critical value of British logistics.
After all, the phrase supply ‘chain’ undersells the complexity of the logistics network: businesses navigate an intricate — and often interconnected — ecosystem, relying on everything from roads, to power, to warehousing, and digital software to fulfil consumer needs.
We have been impressed by the vision, expertise, support and commitment of the current UK Government to delivering on the UK’s critical supply chain and digital infrastructure requirements, which will put our country at the forefront of global innovation and economic growth.
The latest Planning & Infrastructure bill is an excellent starting point in relation to strategic planning – but it must go further. We stand at a moment of real opportunity, where rapid digital innovation should be empowered by our planning processes to inject new ambition into critical project development, rather than holding them back.
As companies examine global supply chains with renewed scrutiny, with many turning to reshoring measures, robust logistics infrastructure will be crucial to facilitating modern life and to driving economic resilience.
Against these challenges, and in an increasingly volatile global environment, the UK government must provide the stability and certainty that the logistics industry needs. Policy clarity, strategic planning, and a commitment to broadening CNI criteria are all necessary if we are to build British resilience with robust, ‘plugged-in’ logistics infrastructure.
We are anxiously anticipating the publication of Labour’s Ten-Year National Infrastructure Strategy this June, but it is not only the government who are on the hook.
The UK National Energy System Operator projects that £10 billion a year will be needed by 2030 to modernise the country’s electricity transmission network — an effort that will rely heavily on private-sector funding.
We need to broaden the one-size-fits-all Private Finance Initiative approach, and consider innovative financing models, including public-private co-investment initiatives.
As power constraints continue to challenge domestic industry, and previous assumptions about trading partners can no longer be relied on, plugged-in logistics infrastructure will be critical to achieving our digital ambitions, supporting modern life, and driving economic resilience.
Scunthorpe highlighted our vulnerability and is thankfully resolved – but we must back this up with robust logistics infrastructure if our economy is to be truly resilient — and strategic collaboration between public and private-sector investment is key.
Our attachment to traditional industries is rooted in legacy. After all, high-grade British steel has built our Navy warships, landmark bridges, and even Land Rover cars. But times have changed.
Power has never been so in-demand, and global political instability is unprecedented. When it comes to investment, we risk losing sight of Britain’s future — and there is more at stake than many realise.
