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about the UK logistics market opportunity
Invest in Lincolnshire's Logistics Sector: Key Benefits and Opportunities
For investing logistics and distribution businesses, Lincolnshire combines strategic logistics hub locations with direct access to world-class digitalisation and automation solutions - delivering the competitive edge required for success in an era of market disruption and opportunity.
The Lincolnshire Logistics Investment Opportunity
For investing logistics businesses, Lincolnshire offers:
Market Opportunity
Growth opportunities driven by decarbonisation, supply chain security, e-commerce, and automation, in key sectors including agrifood and low carbon energy/industry.
Industry Hubs
A strategic UK location with major port logistics hubs and advanced industry clusters.
Multimodal Connectivity
Fast, multimodal access to UK & global markets
Research & Innovation
World-class Industry 4.0 expertise, enabling logistics automation and digitalisation.
Specialist Workforce
A large, specialist, cost-effective logistics workforce and sector-focused skills providers.
Sites & Properties
Available, cost-effective logistics sites and properties, including options with potential Freeport incentives.
Dedicated Support
Dedicated support for investing businesses
The UK Logistics Market Opportunity
Lincolnshire’s distinctive combination of major logistics hubs, multimodal connectivity, and Industry 4.0 expertise makes it the ideal location for logistics businesses seeking to profit from transformation and growth in the UK’s logistics and industrial sectors.
Key drivers include:
- A renewed focus on shorter, more resilient supply chains, following recent economic shocks and international security concerns.
- E-commerce growth, creating opportunities for distribution businesses.
- The need for improved sustainability, requiring innovation in logistics technologies and supply chain models.
- Growth in key industry sectors including agrifood, renewable energy, and low carbon manufacturing, driven by innovation and decarbonisation.
- Warehouse digitalisation and automation, creating opportunities for innovative technology and distribution businesses.
Refocusing
Resilientshorter supply chains
Transformation
Industry 4.0Automation
Sustainability
Net ZeroUK Emissionsby 2050
Lincolnshire’s Logistics Market Growth Opportunities
Lincolnshire is at the forefront of high-growth, future-focused industry sectors including agrifood, low carbon energy and industry, and advanced engineering and manufacturing, presenting a range of partnering opportunities for logistics businesses.
- Lincolnshire is a key location within the UK Food Valley - the country’s heartland for food production, food and seafood manufacturing, horticulture, and food logistics.
- Lincolnshire is leading the UK’s transition to Net Zero emissions, through major strategic investments in industrial decarbonisation, offshore renewable energy, and the circular economy - creating extensive opportunities for logistics businesses.
- Direct access to renewable energy, notably from offshore wind, will potentially enable Lincolnshire-based logistics businesses to develop net zero supply chains, including food cool chains.
UK-leading Logistics Hubs and Industry Clusters
Lincolnshire is home to the UK’s busiest trading gateway and the country’s largest food and horticultural logistics hub - providing the infrastructure, expertise, supply chains and market opportunities required for logistics business growth.
- The South Humber port logistics hub (including Immingham and Grimsby) offers extensive ports infrastructure and services, and multimodal freight terminals. Key sectors served include energy, offshore renewables, process manufacturing, and agrifood.
- Sites within the Humber Freeport can potentially offer valuable tax and customs benefits - attracting major industrial investments and creating logistics growth opportunities.
- Focused on Spalding and the Port of Boston, the South Lincolnshire logistics hub includes the UK’s largest food logistics hub and a leading centre for horticultural distribution.
Fast UK & Global Market Access for Logistics Businesses
Lincolnshire is strategically located to enable fast, multimodal access to UK and international markets.
- Lincolnshire’s central Great Britain location (north-south) enables fast access by road to the UK’s major population centres, distribution hubs and freight terminals.
- The ports of Immingham and Grimsby offer frequent sea freight services to European ports and offshore renewables hubs, and deep-sea feeder operations to Rotterdam.
- The Port of Boston operates feeder services from the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, and serves UK markets for containers and bulk foods.
- Airports accessible within 2 hours include East Midlands (the UK’s no.2 air cargo hub), Birmingham and Leeds-Bradford. Within Lincolnshire, Humberside Airport’s Amsterdam Schiphol hub-feeder service enables access to hundreds of global destinations.
- Lincolnshire’s major ports and logistics hubs are rail freight connected. Both Grimsby and Immingham ports offer W12-gauge access for ‘high cube’ containers.
Advanced Logistics and Supply Chain Research and Technologies
Lincolnshire provides investing logistics businesses with direct access to leading-edge logistics, supply chain, digitalisation and automation research and technologies, enabling improvements in productivity, sustainability, and supply chain resilience.
- The University of Lincoln is a leader in Industry 4.0 R&D. Technologies including AI and intelligent robotics are applied to key challenges including more sustainable, intelligent transport and logistics; supply chain digitalisation; and energy-efficient refrigeration.
- Research and consultancy from Grimsby Institute’s Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre (FRPERC) enables industry to implement best practice.
- The University of Hull’s world-renowned Logistics Institute collaborates with industry to address real-world challenges including supply chain optimisation, digitalisation and decarbonisation.
Logistics Sector Workforce, Education and Skills
Logistics businesses investing in Lincolnshire can access an available, high-quality workforce across the skills spectrum, enabling fast recruitment and project delivery, business transformation, and improved productivity.
- Lincolnshire’s university and industrial strengths enable access to technical workers with the engineering and high-tech skills required for warehouse process digitalisation, automation and maintenance.
- Lincolnshire’s highly developed ports and logistics clusters provide access to a workforce with high levels of expertise across a range of logistics specialisations.
- Lincolnshire offers large numbers of workers in key ‘elementary’ and technically skilled classifications of relevance to logistics businesses, with high workforce concentrations versus the Great Britain average.
- Lincolnshire’s average labour costs offer substantial savings versus the national average.
Sites and Properties for Logistics Businesses in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire offers a wide range of high-quality, cost-effective logistics and distribution sites and properties, in strategic hub locations that enable fast access to UK and international markets. Logistics site and property solutions include:
- Ready-to-go sites for built-to-suit prime properties
- Sites with Freeport tax or customs incentives for eligible investing businesses
- Port-adjacent sites serving sectors including offshore renewables
- Food Enterprise Zone (FEZ) sites, for food logistics and distribution
- Significant potential cost advantages versus key competitor locations
- Potential access to renewable energy sources, for sustainable supply chains
- Fast access to key UK manufacturing and logistics hubs, ports and airports
Support for Your Logistics Sector Business Investment
Working together, Invest Lincolnshire and our partner organisations, including local authorities, education providers and businesses, provide dedicated support to ensure a ‘soft landing’ for companies locating and investing in Lincolnshire.
Home to Leading Logistics Businesses
Businesses established in Lincolnshire’s Logistics sector include:
Get the Data on Lincolnshire as a Logistics Business Location
Lincolnshire’s Logistics sector Business Location Guide provides essential information and data for companies researching and evaluation Lincolnshire as a potential investment location, including:
