The warehouse market is virtually at full volume, according to UKWA

The CEO of the United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA) has warned companies planning to stockpile goods in UK warehouses in an attempt to mitigate the impact of a no-deal Brexit on their supply chain that UK warehouses are approaching capacity.

Speaking on the BBC's Newsnight program, Peter Ward said: "Stockpiling before the potential no-deal Brexit on October 31st may be near impossible. There is little available space. The market, as represented by our members, is virtually at full volume.

"The biggest concern at the moment is that the October deadline comes right bang in the middle of peak season. From a timing point of view, it couldn't be worse," he said.

"You can't just turn on supply; and the vacancy rates talked about by the industrial agents are largely de-coupled from the Brexit-related surge in demand. For the most part, the demand is for the kind of fully serviced logistics solutions that UKWA members provide - in other words, warehousing with racking, materials handling equipment, labour and connectable warehouse management systems with 'pay as you play' transactional pricing. This is very different from empty buildings with landlords seeking long-term lease commitments. In any event, adding new real estate to the system can take a number of years, and I can't see any increase in capacity by October. "

UKWA is the leading trade body dedicated to serving the needs of the UK's logistics industry and has over 700 members who, between them, control nearly 100 million square feet of warehousing space across nearly 1,300 locations throughout the UK.