Established in 1944, when the Government of the day asked for representatives from warehousing companies to form a Committee to discuss the storage and distribution of food and materials in wartime Britain, the Association was originally known as the National Association of Inland Warehouse Keepers - a body formed to protect and further the interests of public warehouse keepers conducting businesses outside the major ports. After the war, the name was changed in 1952 with the omission of the word "Inland" as many members by then were also operating facilities within the ports. In 1982, the British Public Warehouse Keepers Committee merged with the National Association of Warehouse Keepers, further strengthening the Association's representational base.

The Association celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 1994 and changed its name from the National Association of Warehouse Keepers to the United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA), together with a new logo, to convey a more modern image of public warehousing and as a result of the Association's growing involvement with the European Union and international warehousing.

Today UKWA is a well-respected Association which represents nearly 700 member companies who, between them, operate around 100 million sq ft of warehouse and distribution centre space from some 2000 locations across the UK.

Originally established as a trade body for the third party warehousing and logistics sector, the Association now embraces all companies that provide warehousing or other logistics support services in the supply chain.  In other words, companies that undertake warehousing and logistics tasks but for whom such operations do not represent their core business can now apply for membership of UKWA.

Of course, the overwhelming majority of UKWA's members remain third party warehousing and logistics services companies, or 3PLs as they are perhaps better known, but the move to widen the Association's membership eligibility means that UKWA is now truly representative of the wider supply chain community.

UKWA's aims are succinctly laid out in the Association's Mission Statement which reads:  "The UKWA offers a service to logistics service companies and any organisations that provide warehousing and other logistics support services in the supply chain.  It does this by helping to establish a favourable operating environment, by providing a forum for discussion on non-competitive issues and by disseminating information to assist them in their business."

MISSION STATEMENT
UKWA's aims are succinctly laid out in the Association's mission statement which reads:  "The UKWA offers a service to logistics service companies and any organisations that provide warehousing and other logistics support services in the supply chain.  It does this by helping to establish a favourable operating environment, by providing a forum for discussion on non-competitive issues and by disseminating information to assist them in their business."

UKWA's principal objectives are as follows:
.   To represent members' views to government departments and agencies, the European Commission and Parliament and other relevant organisations.
.  To promote the logisitcs services providers industry
.  To protect the interests of the member company through the provision of effective Conditions of Contract
.  To raise the standards of the industry through training and best practice
.  To provide relevant marketing information and statistics to interested parties