Warehousing campaign kicks off in Wellingborough

The national 2024 Year of Warehousing campaign, announced in the House of Lords by Minister Richard Holden MP, kicked off an ambitious tour of 80 warehouses nationwide at local business Visku, with CEO of the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) Clare Bottle, and Cllr. Valerie Anslow Mayor of Wellingborough, hosted by Visku CEO Andy Kaye.

2024 The Year of Warehousing campaign marks the 80th anniversary of the UK Warehousing Association and UKWA CEO Clare Bottle will be visiting 80 warehouses around the UK to showcase this important sector. The very first visit took place in Wellingborough in recognition of its vital location for logistics.

Warehousing remains one of the fastest growing, but least understood sectors in the UK. This is partly because people rarely see what happens inside these often vast buildings, where millions of products are processed every day. So the essential work warehouses do has always been ‘behind the scenes’ and yet to a large extent, under-appreciated – in fact, the warehousing and logistics sector contributes £163bn GVA to the UK economy, is a major employer and force for social mobility.

As a result, 2024 The Year of Warehousing aims to turn the spotlight onto the million plus people who work in warehousing, dispel outdated perceptions, and celebrate the role of the sector in our national life.

Commenting on the first milestone visit, Clare Bottle said, “Visku was chosen to be the first of my 80 visits not only as the location of its headquarters, and one of its flagship warehouses, partnering with Prologis in the ‘Golden Triangle’, but also as an impressive example of state-of-the art-warehousing. This 335,000sq ft development offers the ultimate in storage flexibility with customer-centricity at the heart of its business. The occasion was a great success, with Mayor Valerie Anslow clearly amazed by the facility. Thanks go to Andy and his team for helping us showcase our great sector!”

Visku was chosen to be the first of my 80 visits not only as the location of its headquarters, and one of its flagship warehouses, partnering with Prologis in the ‘Golden Triangle’, but also as an impressive example of state-of-the art-warehousing.

Andy Kaye added, “We are delighted to support UKWA’s ‘2024 The Year of Warehousing campaign and are honoured to the first company to welcome Clare on her exhausting 80-site tour of UK warehousing. The Visku team is incredibly proud to be celebrating UKWA’s 80th anniversary here at Wellingborough in the presence of the Mayor of Wellingborough, Cllr Valerie Anslow. In its long history, UKWA has achieved great things for the warehousing sector and it’s only right that in 2024 – this important 80th anniversary year – we recognised and shout about the vital role warehousing plays in keeping the UK running. Visku believes flexible warehousing is the future, providing businesses with the agility needed to respond quickly to change. So, by supporting UKWA with this event and also in sponsoring the Association’s National Conference in March, we celebrate innovation and advancement in this wonderful ‘Year of Warehousing’ and we wish Clare every success in her UK tour.

This has been a great opportunity for us to continue to support the warehousing industry and to provide a first-hand insight into our business through the Mayor of Wellingborough.”

Cllr. Anslow confirmed that she had never been inside a warehouse before and found the visit inspirational, noting that driving a VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) vehicle is a skilled job and declaring that warehousing can be a great force for good in the local community.