On the Relay Twitter account (@RelayTransport) we regularly share success stories about UK businesses. One of our main sources of this information has been the Jefferson Group (@Jefferson_MFG). On May 14th they tweeted about some very exciting news signifying an anticipated UK economic upturn.
To quote: UPDATE: Amazon has announced it is opening five new sites and creating more than 10,000 jobs across the UK. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the American-owned firm's investment is "a huge vote of confidence in the British economy".
This confidence is shared by some very optimistic economic forecasts, including from the Bank of England (BoE). Along with other news channels, Reuters recently reported that the BoE had "raised its forecast for British economic growth in 2021 to 7.25% from February's estimate of 5.0%."
Keeping the Wheels Turning
There is no doubt that the logistics sector has played a huge role in positioning the UK economy for this predicted resurgence.
Elizabeth de Jong, the UK’s Policy Director for Logistics UK, has stated that: “The logistics industry has proved invaluable to the UK economy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with businesses across all modes of freight transport taking quick action to adapt their operations to meet the needs of consumers."
Logistics has provided essential support for B2B operations as well. Often the movement of consignments can be complex and time-sensitive, requiring particularly strong lines of communication and high levels of trust between suppliers and their customers.
Building Communication and Trust
Relay's specialisation in the storage, transport and installation of fragile, high value electronic equipment requires a very close working relationship with our customers.
This has been especially important in the period of the pandemic emergency and a recent testimonial from a customer demonstrates the kind of working partnership we continually strive to establish.
"I’d be grateful if you could pass on our thanks and appreciation to your ops teams for the efforts they’ve put in over the last 12 months. We find the approach of everyone at Relay very professional and pro-active.
"On the occasions there are issues, which is inevitable in this line of work, the efforts and attention to resolve do your business credit regardless of the cause of the problem."
The recent Bank of England forecast also states that: "The economy was set to return to its pre-pandemic size in the last quarter of 2021, three months earlier than previously thought."
Relay believes that a large part of this success will have been due to the high quality of working relationships between businesses.