The Prime Minister has appointed Sir David Lewis, former CEO of Tesco, as
the UK Government’s supply chain adviser.
Dave Lewis brings with him a wealth of industry knowledge and expertise to
the new role. He will advise the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster on both immediate improvements and any necessary long term changes to
UK supply chains for goods, and will work with government officials to quickly
resolve acute, short term issues.
This includes both identifying the causes of current blockages and
pre-empting potential future ones, and advising on resolutions either through
direct government action or through industry with Government support. Building
on the current government approach, he will work closely with industry to
improve government access to data and build the most effective methods into
future responses to blockages.
Dave Lewis will also co-chair the new Supply Chain Advisory Group,
consisting of external experts in the field, and the new Industry Taskforce, to
ensure those on the ground have the opportunity to voice their concerns and
advise on the most efficient resolutions.
Businesses have faced a range of challenges over recent months as they
recover from the global pandemic which has impacted supply chains across Europe
and around the world. The government has acted quickly to introduce a series of
measures to relieve pressure on vital supply chains, including by streamlining
the testing process for HGV drivers, creating skills bootcamps to train up HGV
drivers, as well as introducing short-term visas for fuel drivers, food haulage
drivers and poultry workers to ease pressures facing these supply chains.
Dave Lewis will work closely with the Prime Minister, No10 and the Treasury,
and will be based in the Cabinet Office. He has been appointed until the end of
the year, beginning in the role from Monday 11 October.
Tony Danker, CBI Director-General, said: “This is a positive development which
shows the government is willing to listen to and work in partnership with
business to tackle current challenges.
“Establishing a
Taskforce to move quickly – with both business and government around the table
– will ensure government is far better informed about the nature and scale
of the challenges and can formulate responses at speed.
“The CBI
looks forward to working closely with Sir David Lewis and his team at the
Cabinet Office to find efficient solutions and deploy them quickly, enabling
the UK to get ahead of future issues.
“Working
together is the best way to create the high wage, high skill, high investment,
high productivity economy we all want to see.”
Hannah Essex, Co-executive Director of the BCC, also
welcomed the appointment and the creation of a Supply Chain Advisory Group and
Industry Taskforce.
“For several weeks we have been calling on
Government to get round the table with business and work together to find
solutions to the big challenges facing firms large and small this autumn,” she
continued.
“Setting up a Business Supply Taskforce was also a
key ask in our ‘Winter Plan for Business’ which we gave to the Government
last week.
“Hopefully Sir David, and the new groups he
co-chairs, will be able to hit the ground running and urgently address some of
the critical issues damaging business conditions.
“The increasing pressure that businesses,
especially SMEs, are facing around supply chain costs and disruption, labour
shortages, price rises, soaring energy bills and taxes is becoming dire.
“The BCC’s most recent Quarterly Economic Survey
shows that the economic recovery is on shaky ground as over two thirds of firms
have yet to report any increase in investment or cashflow, and the position is
even worse for smaller firms.
“Hopefully the government will also consider
implementing further constructive solutions from our winter plan, not least on
short-term visas, to see us through the difficult months ahead and enable
businesses across the country to get back to growth and prosperity.”
