The UK trade body for the warehousing sector, known as UKWA, based in Market Harborough, representing warehouse operators and their suppliers.
The UK Warehousing Association, known as UKWA, calls itself the voice of warehousing and the leading trade organisation for the sector. Warehouses are the buildings where goods are stored, sorted and sent on to shops and customers, and they employ hundreds of thousands of people across the UK. UKWA has over 900 members. Full members include warehousing and logistics providers as well as manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers, and around 200 associate members supply products and services to the industry.
UKWA describes its role in four parts: representing members' views to government departments and other policy makers, promoting the warehousing and wider logistics industry, protecting members' interests through its Conditions of Contract, and raising industry standards through training and best practice. Its membership pages group its work under themes such as empowering your business, optimising your operations and securing your future, and it lists four pillars: talk about warehousing, raise industry standards, build community, and help members. The pages we could read did not give a founding date.
UKWA is based at the Harborough Innovation Centre, Airfield Business Park, Market Harborough, Leicestershire. Its members work in warehouses across the UK, but the pages we read do not say how many staff UKWA employs or whether it has other offices. It publishes the UKWA Warehouse Magazine and policy briefings, produces podcasts, and runs events including a conference, an Awards for Excellence, a House of Lords luncheon and a Member Connect series, all listed for 2026.
On people and culture, the association is governed by a board of senior industry professionals, and its small team works on policy, events and member engagement. It publishes a Policy Manifesto and a Skills Policy Paper for 2026, which fits with the concern in the industry about finding and keeping workers: a UKWA survey reported by Air Cargo Week found that recruitment and retention was the top worry for members. It also publishes a Modern Slavery Policy, and offers a Learning Hub for training.
One of its main training courses is the Warehouse Manager Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC), a qualification for people running warehouses. The jobs at UKWA include policy and public affairs, event organisation, membership, communications and training administration. Warehousing itself offers a wide range of careers, from operations and engineering to technology and data, so reading the association's papers is a good way to learn what the industry is working on and where it needs new people.
Website: www.ukwa.org.uk
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