New summit to tackle urban logistics crises

The United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA) is sponsoring a new, one-day summit: "Feeding Cities Summit," to be held at London's British Museum on February 6th as a direct response to the new National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) study on the future of the UK freight industry, announced in the last Chancellor of the Exchequer's budget. Britain's cities, particularly London, face serious urban logistics challenges that if not addressed soon could lead to a shortage of essential food supplies on shelves. Given that other cities around the world are finding urban logistics a growing challenge, this summit's findings would be of interest to them.

At the summit will be key industry stakeholders to review the challenges of urban logistics, gather all the documented evidence and, most importantly, to develop a coherent plan going forward to present to the NIC. All attendees will receive access to key research and organisations, including a free copy of UKWA's report: "Feeding London 2030 -- facing the logistical challenge." UKWA will use feedback collected from delegates at the event to develop a series of recommendations to present to the NIC ahead of the NIC's in-depth study on the future of freight, announced recently by the Chancellor, Philip Hammond.

Delegates at the summit will consider what is best practice in urban food service and local convenience grocery logistics, discuss the challenges of current infrastructure and get an insight as to how the warehouses of the future might look, while exploring the role of technology, such as artificial intelligence, driverless vehicles and drones in shaping the urban supply chain models of tomorrow.

In the UKWA report, "Feeding London 2030," there were stark warnings about the looming urban logistics crises brought on by a variety of factors like the trends in the way food and drinks are bought and consumed, which added to the capital's changing population profile and the transport infrastructure that is already creaking, are bringing significant challenges to food and drinks manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, caterers and transport logistics companies.

To give readers an idea of the pressing need for change, the report focussed on 125 food outlets in London's Greenwich, where one restaurant could typically have 13 deliveries a day. Such a distribution pattern has repercussions far beyond food and drinks supply logistics. One of the major irritants, for example, is the daily exceeding of London's air pollution legal limits by an alarming margin, sometimes by as much as 13 times, and given that 80% of such pollution is ascribed to road transport it is the leading culprit sending an estimated 9,000 Londoners to an early grave every year and leaving many thousands more with serious, costly pulmonary diseases which is putting the National Health Service under serious strain.

Tickets for the summit cost £395 plus VAT and further details can be had from: www.ukwa.org.uk
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