October is the month we heard that the UK is officially now coming out of recession but what does this really mean for supply chain and logistics?
Recent surveys show differences between various sectors.
- Retail employment is growing at its fastest rate in two years but all growth in jobs and shop numbers is coming from the food sector.
- Online grocery is currently just 3% of the overall grocery market but is the fastest-growing sector, estimated to double in value to £11 bn by 2017, in spite of a large number of on line customers regularly experiencing late deliveries and not being informed if the delivery is running late.
- In non food retailing the number of outlets and full-time jobs fell.
- Retail chains shut 30 shops a day in July and August and Argos has announced the closure of 75 stores, with Optical Express closing 40 stores and Comet filing for administration.
- And yet John Lewis goes from strength to strength, Screwfix has opened its 250th store and Marks & Spencer are seeking to fill 100 graduate roles in logistics.
- In the auto industry, Land Rover and Toyota are performing well but other companies are having problems. Japanese carmakers Nissan and Toyota are cutting production of vehicles in China because of lack of demand and Ford are cutting back on inventory and costs, announcing 1400 redundancies at Dagenham and Southampton, with the closure of the Transit assembly line.
Looking across the Job Boards and the increasing number of jobs in supply chain and logistics industry, there is clear evidence that overall the sector is looking forward with confidence to the future.
Terry Abra
JLC Solutions
www.jlc-solutions.co.uk
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