“Don’t take us for granted”: Fletcher’s bid to put logistics centre stage

My conversation with Logistics UK chief executive Ben Fletcher takes me back to October 2019, when my first interview for Motor Transport was with David Wells, chief executive of the FTA, as Logistics UK was then known.

Major disruption was coming, Wells warned me back then. Brexit was top of the agenda, technology was beginning to reshape transport, and operators were set for a period of significant change.

What nobody knew was that the biggest shock was still to come. Within months, a global pandemic would expose the critical role of logistics like never before, and supply chains were suddenly front-page news.

Seven years on, much has changed, but many of the questions remain familiar.

After taking the helm of Logistics UK last December, Ben Fletcher now leads an organisation representing an industry that has survived Brexit, Covid, rising costs, labour shortages and the largely reluctant transition towards decarbonisation.

Fletcher’s challenge goes beyond explaining logistics to government. He must convince policymakers that the sector is a cornerstone of the country’s economic future, deserving strategic investment and attention rather than being noticed only when problems arise.

The industry is now entering another period of profound change. The challenges that have defined recent years have not disappeared, but they are being joined by a new set of forces reshaping the sector; from artificial intelligence and changing trade patterns to the challenge of delivering economic growth amid rising costs and political uncertainty.

That is the environment Fletcher has stepped into. But his first priority, he says, was simply to listen.

In the early months of his tenure, he spent much of his time travelling around the country, meeting members, visiting depots and talking to businesses ranging from small family operators with only a handful of vehicles to global players managing complex international networks.

He is enjoying the challenge, he says, as we sit down to chat in the elegant surroundings of St Ermin’s Hotel in Westminster. Tall, angular and quietly authoritative, Fletcher speaks with the measured confidence of someone accustomed to operating at the intersection of business and politics.

Formerly chief operating officer of Make UK, the manufacturers’ trade body, Fletcher’s answers are diplomatic rather than dramatic, with the occasional knowing smile when he discusses the frustrations of dealing with government. Those relationships have entered a new phase following Andy Burnham’s arrival in Downing Street as prime minister. But Fletcher’s central message remains unchanged; if politicians want growth, they need to understand logistics.

“I don’t think there’s any substitute for getting out there and talking to people on the ground,” he says. “Understanding what the pressures are that they’re facing, but also the opportunities.”

Logistics, he argues, is not simply about trucks moving goods. It is an interconnected industry spanning road freight, rail, ports, warehousing, water and supply chains, touching almost every part of the economy.

“The thing that I don’t think is necessarily understood outside of the industry is how complex and how significant it is,” he says.

His years representing manufacturers shaped that view. As Fletcher sees it, manufacturing and logistics are inseparable.

“You can’t run a factory if you can’t get raw materials in, and you can’t get your product out,” he says.

It is a perspective that underpins much of his thinking. Logistics is often viewed as a support service, when in reality it is critical national infrastructure. The sector’s ability to keep goods moving through almost any disruption has become both its greatest strength and, paradoxically, one of its biggest challenges.

“There is a risk that government sees us as an industry that resolves problems,” he says. “They don’t have to worry about us because we always find a way around.”

That resilience, Fletcher believes, has allowed logistics to become taken for granted. Ministers discovered the importance of supply chains during Covid, but memories are short. His task now is to ensure government sees the industry not simply as something that reacts to crises, but as one that deserves investment before the next one arrives.

He is careful throughout our conversation not to stray into party politics. Fletcher repeatedly describes Logistics UK as “politically agnostic”, preferring to work with governments of any colour. Yet his message is unmistakable.

“If the government wants to achieve its target of building millions of new homes, it’s not going to get close to that without a strong logistics industry,” he says.

The same argument applies to manufacturing, exports and regional growth. Roads, ports, warehouses, planning and skills rarely dominate political debate, yet they determine whether economic ambitions can become reality.

Bigger picture

One of the questions Fletcher faced on taking the role was whether Logistics UK’s broad remit risked diluting its traditional road freight focus. He sees it differently.

“The road hauliers element is a huge part of that,” he says, “but increasingly the interconnectivity across those different modes is going to be a big part of the next 20 years.”

That reflects the way supply chains have evolved. Customers no longer think in terms of individual transport modes; they think about moving goods efficiently from origin to destination. Fletcher believes trade associations need to reflect that reality while remaining rooted in the day-to-day concerns of their members.

His experience at Make UK reinforced another lesson.

“Most manufacturers in Britain are SMEs, and most logistics firms are SMEs,” he says. “It’s absolutely vital that trade associations understand and recognise that.”

For many smaller operators, the daily pressures of running a business leave little time to think about Westminster. Rising costs, regulation, recruitment and investment decisions are immediate concerns. Fletcher sees part of his role as translating those operational realities into language policymakers understand.

Rather than treating infrastructure, planning, skills and regulation as separate policy areas, he argues they are all connected. Businesses can only invest when the conditions are right, and creating those conditions is ultimately what government can influence.

The role, then, is to explain why decisions affecting logistics ripple through the wider economy. Fletcher’s challenge is to ensure ministers recognise that before the next crisis, rather than during it.

Hard transition

Nowhere is the gap between political ambition and operational reality more evident than in decarbonisation. Fletcher believes the industry accepts the need to cut emissions, but he is quick to challenge the idea that operators are simply resistant to change.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to is very positive about the environment and net zero targets,” he says. “But there is a fundamental issue if you are being expected to convert, for example, to electric power.”

For many operators, particularly smaller businesses, moving to zero-emission vehicles will be one of the biggest investments they ever make. Electric trucks remain significantly more expensive than their diesel equivalents, charging infrastructure is still developing and the electricity network is not yet equipped for the scale of change required.

For a fleet operator, the calculation is simple: the vehicle has to earn its keep.

“There is a need to have the wheels on the ground and rolling all the time,” Fletcher says.

His concern is that political debate has often focused on the destination while paying less attention to how operators actually get there. Rather than backing a single technology, he believes government should create the conditions that allow different solutions to develop.

“The idea that there’s one route and only one route is not necessarily accurate,” he says.

Whether the answer is battery electric, hydrogen or another technology, Fletcher’s argument is that industry will invest when there is confidence in the supporting infrastructure. That means faster planning decisions, sufficient grid capacity and a regulatory framework that gives businesses certainty over investments that will last for years.

He points to the emergence of “incredible” high-capacity charging facilities capable of recharging electric HGVs in around half an hour as evidence of how quickly technology is advancing. The challenge now is making those developments available at the scale operators need.

“If you change the rules to support this and recognise this was an issue,” he says, “then the industry and the private sector can step in and solve them.”

It is a typically pragmatic answer. Fletcher is not arguing against net zero; he is arguing that government and industry have to solve the practical barriers together.

Talent gap

If decarbonisation represents logistics’ long-term transformation, skills remain its most immediate concern. Driver shortages may fluctuate, but Fletcher believes the industry’s biggest problem is perception.

“The issue isn’t that young people don’t want to do important and significant jobs anymore,” he says. “I think the issue is that kids don’t understand what those jobs are.”

That misunderstanding, he argues, starts early. Many young people simply have little appreciation of the scale of modern logistics or the variety of careers it offers, from transport planning and technology to warehousing, compliance and international supply chains.

Even the image of the HGV driver has failed to keep pace with reality.

“If you get into the cab of an HGV, it’s not being on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise,” Fletcher says, “but these days it’s not far off.”

Changing those perceptions is one of the aims of Generation Logistics, the industry’s long-running campaign to promote careers across the sector. But Fletcher believes improving the industry’s image must go hand in hand with developing the skills employers will need in the years ahead.

As vehicles, warehouses and supply chains become more technologically advanced, the workforce will need new digital and technical skills alongside traditional operational experience. Fletcher believes logistics must have a stronger voice in shaping national skills policy if it is to meet those changing demands.

Yet attracting people into the industry is only part of the equation. Keeping them means improving the working environment too. Driver facilities have been a longstanding concern across the industry, and Fletcher believes progress has been too slow. Operators are making genuine efforts to recruit a more diverse workforce, but too many roadside facilities still fail even the most basic standards.

“If you go to a location where there aren’t even any women’s toilets, never mind women’s showers, and the men’s toilets are pretty horrific too, that’s not attractive to anyone.”

It is one of the few moments in our conversation when genuine frustration surfaces.

For all the talk of technology and the future of freight, Fletcher keeps returning to practical realities. Better roadside facilities, improved planning decisions and decent places for drivers to rest are hardly glamorous policy issues, but they matter to the people the industry depends on every day.

Trade friction

Brexit remains one of the defining events of recent years for logistics, but Fletcher believes the debate has moved on.

The arguments today are less about whether the UK should have left the European Union than about reducing the friction that still affects trade, particularly for smaller businesses trying to export.

“The logistics industry is at the heart of facilitating billions of pounds of UK-EU trade,” Fletcher said during recent discussions with European policymakers. “By fixing the friction surrounding existing trade, £12bn could be channelled into the economy, driving growth and raising living standards.”

While larger operators have largely adapted to the post-Brexit landscape, Fletcher believes smaller firms continue to face the greatest challenges.

“The big firms have found their way through,” he says. “What I think we’re struggling to do is get small and innovative products to the EU market.”

The same thinking applies to congestion around the Short Straits. Logistics has repeatedly found ways to keep goods moving, but Fletcher argues there is a difference between coping with problems and solving them.

For him, the free movement of goods is not simply the final stage of economic activity. It is one of the foundations on which that activity depends.

Next disruption

Like almost every industry, logistics is now grappling with the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence. Better route planning, improved efficiency and smarter use of data all promise significant gains, but Fletcher is realistic about the pressures facing many operators.

“The challenge of just getting the fleet moving every day, keeping customers happy, winning new business and operating on the tightest of margins doesn’t leave a lot of people time to be wandering around thinking about AI,” he says.

It is another example of the balancing act facing the industry. The opportunities are real, but so are the day-to-day pressures on businesses, particularly smaller operators with limited time and resources.

For Fletcher, that is where organisations such as Logistics UK have an important role to play: helping members navigate change while ensuring policymakers understand the practical realities behind it.

A sector that underpins housing, manufacturing, exports, retail, healthcare and everyday life cannot simply be expected to absorb every new pressure placed upon it.

That is Ben Fletcher’s central argument. He does not present himself as a crusader or a political campaigner. Instead, he comes across as a pragmatist: someone more interested in solving problems than scoring points. Throughout our conversation, he returns to the same themes. It’s all about listening to members, understanding operational realities and building constructive relationships with government.

It’s a guarded approach, but perhaps that reflects the industry he now represents. Logistics rarely seeks the spotlight. When it’s working well, most people barely notice it.

Since taking the helm of Logistics UK, Fletcher has been making that case across a wide range of issues: from trade barriers and rising costs to skills, infrastructure and the transition to net zero. The challenge now is turning recognition into action. The trucks will keep moving. The question is whether the infrastructure, skills and political understanding will move with them.