The UK government has committed £600m to accelerate development of logistics and industrial sites and will establish a national Supply Chain Centre to strengthen resilience and improve investment coordination, under its long-term Industrial Strategy unveiled today [23 June 2025].
The new Strategic Sites Accelerator aims to unlock high-potential land for logistics and advanced manufacturing by overcoming planning, infrastructure and grid connection constraints.
This is complemented by the creation of a Supply Chain Centre, which will coordinate public and private investment across freight corridors, intermodal infrastructure and warehousing clusters.
A supporting Supply Chain Observatory will monitor vulnerabilities and dependencies, echoing lessons from pandemic-era and post-Brexit disruption.
The measures form part of a broader 10-year strategy to support eight growth-driving sectors – among them advanced manufacturing and clean energy industries – and recognise logistics as a cross-cutting enabler of UK productivity and decarbonisation.
Although logistics was not granted “foundational sector” status, the strategy acknowledges its systemic importance to economic growth.
“It is disappointing that our sector has not been named as ‘foundational’, but we welcome the recognition that an efficient logistics system is critical to boosting UK productivity,” said Kevin Green, policy director at Logistics UK.
“We will continue to engage closely with government… including on its new plan for freight and logistics and by pressing for inclusion in the work of the new Supply Chain Centre, the new grid Connections Accelerator Service and Growth and Skills Levy reforms.”
The strategy is supported by UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy, which was announced last week and provides further logistics-relevant context – committing to upgrades in rail freight capacity, port connectivity and digital freight corridors.
The infrastructure investments will benefit long-distance freight movements, including the electrification of routes such as the Transpennine corridor and improved digital resilience via intelligent transport systems and digital twins.
Funding for innovation and automation adoption within logistics and warehousing is expected to benefit indirectly from expanded support for advanced manufacturing zones, clean energy clusters and SME transformation schemes such as Made Smarter.
The Clean Energy Industries Plan, for example, includes commitments to decarbonised freight corridors and logistics co-location within net zero industrial clusters.
To help fund innovation in and around the logistics sector, the British Business Bank has launched a £4bn Industrial Strategy Growth Capital initiative, aiming to unlock a total of £16bn in public and private investment across the strategy’s eight sectors.
While logistics is not a standalone focus area, enabling technologies and infrastructure aligned to advanced manufacturing, digital, or clean energy sectors may qualify.
“Nothing moves without logistics,” added Green. “Our members supply our hospitals, schools, factories, shops and homes with everything they need, everywhere, every day.”
The strategy also contains commitments to reduce industrial energy costs, streamline permitting for grid connections, and foster planning reform – critical issues for developers of logistics parks, electric vehicle freight depots and inland distribution hubs.
The Industrial Strategy marks the first comprehensive UK-wide industrial policy since 2017 and will be overseen by a new Industrial Strategy Council.
