Midland Pallet Trucks’ Disappointment as Warehousing Ignored in Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ Plans

As industries begin to welcome Government’s plans to ‘level up’, one key industry has been left out of future strategies – warehousing and logistics – say manual handling experts, Midland Pallet Trucks.

The Levelling Up White Paper, which was released late last week, outlined 12 Government missions that would target the most deprived areas of the UK. These plans included initiatives that would increase employment, pay, research investment, public transport, and skills training. However, many were disappointed to see that warehousing was notably absent from the strategy.

Despite the sector currently facing unprecedented demand, and the need for factory space and workers being at an all-time high, it has not been recognised as essential to the new levelling up movement, claims Midland Pallet Trucks.

Warehousing currently accounts for 7% of the UK’s workforce and has also made serious strides to becoming more energy efficient in recent years. However, without proper support from the Government, industry leaders claim that an effective logistics infrastructure will not be possible. Without this, the country will be unable to meet the aims of increasing pay and employment that were outlined in the recent White Paper.

Phil Chesworth, Managing Director of Midland Pallet Trucks says, “The warehousing industry is a huge sector in the UK that contributes billions to the UK economy and provides diverse job opportunities up and down the country – especially in the North and Midlands. We’re very disappointed to see the Government look over this important industry in recent strategies, and we’d urge them to reconsider warehousing as a key driver in the levelling up strategy.”

As the strategy was launched, many businesses in the warehousing industry have raised similar concerns with the Government. These businesses are asking for opportunities in the sector to be prioritised and resources allocated to ensure a more efficient infrastructure. Only with this help will supply chains across the country be able to bounce back from the current pressure and skills shortages.

Midland Pallet Trucks, which itself is located in the Midlands, provides high quality manual handling equipment like pallet trucks, manual stacker trucks and lift tables to businesses across the country, making them uniquely placed to showcase just how an important an effective logistics network is to our daily lives.

To find out more about the wide range of lift equipment available from Midland Pallet Trucks, visit https://www.midlandpallettrucks.com/