Policy in Action: MP visits UKWA Member

One of UKWA’s four key pillars which guide everything we do is to Talk About Warehousing. This includes advocating for our sector, representing members’ interests, and supporting members in engaging with policymakers. Last Friday this was exactly what we did in Ipswich with UKWA member Buckle Shipping.

Following last month’s Warehousing Matters on business rates in which we encouraged you to write to your local MP, Buckle Shipping took this opportunity, and their local MP accepted their invitation to visit their site and to discuss further the challenges facing their business and the sector.

Clare Bottle, UKWA CEO and Joshua Holland from our Policy team, were delighted to join Buckle Shipping and meet Patrick Spencer, the local Conservative MP and Shadow Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education.

Spencer has pledged to back Suffolk business, and in May 2026 launched his #BackSuffolkBusiness campaign to recognise the valuable role local businesses play in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich. Warehousing and logistics is an important sector in the local economy, with over 2000 employed in logistics in the constituency alone, totalling 8% of the total constituency workforce.

Buckle Shipping are an excellent example of a company in Spencer’s constituency who are providing employment and growing the local economy. Spencer was impressed by their facilities and operations, which help their customers import from the nearby Felixstowe Port and store stock in their carbon-neutral warehouse. However, Buckle Shipping reported that the value they provide could be ever greater if the tax burden on warehousing wasn’t so high.

For a company acting alone, it can be difficult to engage and influence politicians, but that is where the UKWA come in. Collectively as a sector, we can speak with a louder voice than a thousand isolated voices. And what we say is informed through our conversations with you, and our regular member Advisory Board meetings.

Members tell us they value the opportunities that MP visits bring; the chance to speak to their local MP face-to-face. If you would like to welcome your local MP to your site, to discuss any national or local issues or priorities you may have, please let us know at policy@ukwa.org.uk . We arrange visits continuously and are always looking to get more MPs to see, and appreciate, how vital our sector is to the UK economy.

With the Autumn Budget next month, it is crucial we continue our efforts to persuade government that business rates — a substantial and unavoidable fixed cost — should not be raised to fund relief for pubs and high-street businesses. When Andy Burnham became Prime Minister, we were concerned by this suggestion. But we have continued to make the argument that government cannot contemplate taxing the same warehouses which are integral parts of the supply chains of sectors which the government seek to help. You can add your voice by writing to your MP about business rates using our template here.