Nearly two thirds of UK chief executives have seen their supply chains come under strain during the pandemic, while bosses globally now fear supply disruption as one of the biggest risks to growth, a survey has revealed.
A worldwide survey of chief executives by KPMG found supply chain risk is one of the three biggest business challenges, alongside cyber security and environmental and climate issues.
It showed that bosses in sectors that produce goods consider supply chain problems as their main threat to growth.
The findings come amid a mounting supply chain crisis in the UK, caused by a lorry driver shortage, the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.
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The problems are leaving supermarket shelves increasingly empty.
The KPMG 2021 CEO Outlook showed 56 per cent of chief executives globally – including 59 per cent in the UK – say their business supply chain has been under increased stress since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
Nearly a fifth of bosses worldwide (19 per cent) are planning to mitigate the impact by “onshoring” more of their supply chain, with 16 per cent of UK business leaders saying they would be boosting British supply over the next three years.
Almost one in three (30 per cent) of global chief executives and 26 per cent of UK bosses said they would be diversifying sources of input, by adding new locations to make their supply chains more resilient.
The poll of more than 1300 global chief executives – including 150 in the UK – also highlighted the shift towards growth as the global economy bounces back from the pandemic.
In total 87 per cent say they are ready to make an acquisition in the next three years, and those planning to cut their organisation’s physical footprint has dropped dramatically from 69 per cent last August to 21 per cent worldwide in the latest survey – and even lower in the UK, at 14 per cent.
“After a difficult 18 months, it’s encouraging to see CEOs in the UK and globally thinking about growth and investment for the future with renewed confidence and optimism,” chief executive of KPMG UK chief executive Jon Holt said.
“CEOs have had to pivot their business strategies to face many uncertainties brought by the pandemic, and now they are looking to move their plans from resilience to expansion as the economy bounces back.”
with PA Wires
