Midlands transport and logistics firms need to be agile post-Brexit, says expert

Midlands transport and logistics firm will need to be more agile than ever in a post-Brexit world – that’s the advice from one of the region’s leading experts on the sector.

Stuart Sewell, director and transport & logistics lead at KPMG in the Midlands, says that innovations in manufacturing such as ‘just-in-time’ have seen the logistics and transport sector experience long-term, subtle changes in the way it operates, and now retail supply chains are experiencing major disruption from the a level of complexity brought about by e-fulfilment and the need to be completely transparent throughout the delivery process.

Sewell told TheBusinessDesk.com: “The Midlands is rightly still seen as the national hub of the transport and logistics industry. Indeed, the last two decades have seen companies in our region refine their approach to their customers in the retail and manufacturing sectors to provide highly efficient and high quality service.”

He added that this is intertwined with the challenges and opportunities that revolve around the service proposition in the sector. Customers – at both commercial and domestic levels – now expect the service they receive from their provider to be of the highest quality and for the ‘last-mile’ providers to keep them informed of when their shipment will arrive.

Further challenges are coming the way in the form of Brexit, said Sewell, with most transport and logistics firms in the sector already affected to some degree.

He said: “Every supply chain is different, of course, and the world post-March 2019 will provide some unique challenges. Logistics is all about getting something from A to B and Brexit will mean that companies operating in the sector will need to be more agile than ever. I believe that the challenges facing the industry can and will be overcome any complexity caused, and this in turn creates an opportunity.”