IN Brief:
- Consultus Sustainability and UKMHA have published a report on energy and sustainability in the UK material handling industry.
- Surveyed businesses rated concern over volatile energy costs at 8.05 out of 10, yet 84% have no energy management system.
- Procurement pressure is rising, with 68% saying customers now ask about sustainability criteria during bids and tenders.
Consultus Sustainability and the UK Material Handling Association have published a joint report exposing a gap between energy price concern and practical action across the UK material handling sector.
The report, The state of energy and sustainability in the UK material handling industry, found that UK material handling businesses rated their concern over volatile energy costs at 8.05 out of 10. Despite that level of anxiety, 84% of respondents said they operate without an energy management system to track or mitigate waste.
More than half of respondents, 53%, said they had not implemented any energy efficiency measures over the previous 12 months. The same proportion said they had no plans to improve energy efficiency over the coming year.
The survey was distributed to UKMHA members and captured responses from the forklift truck manufacturing, supply, dealership, and end-use industry. Respondents included dealerships, manufacturers, and other industry-related businesses, with many small-to-medium operations represented.
The findings also show sustainability moving into commercial qualification. Some 68% of respondents said customers now ask about sustainability criteria during procurement and bidding processes. At the same time, 37% said they have no internal resources dedicated to sustainability, and 40% of businesses with net zero targets said they have no strategy to achieve them.
Only 4% of businesses said they track energy usage very well. Just 10% have a dedicated internal sustainability manager on the payroll. The gap between customer expectations and internal capability is becoming a commercial risk, not only an environmental one.
Material handling operations are heavily exposed to equipment, charging infrastructure, lighting, workshops, warehouse buildings, heating, maintenance, and vehicle fleets. Forklift dealers, equipment suppliers, and end users have to manage their own energy consumption while responding to customer questions about the efficiency and carbon impact of the equipment they supply or operate.
The same gap between ambition and action has appeared in transport. GXO’s research into green transport programmes, covered at GXO exposes the gap between green transport ambition and action, showed how decarbonisation plans can sit ahead of operational readiness. The material handling report brings that gap into depots, workshops, warehouses, and equipment fleets.
Energy management now affects margins, tender competitiveness, and investment access. A company without reliable energy data cannot easily identify waste, justify efficiency projects, prove savings, respond to customer questionnaires, or build a credible carbon reduction plan. Without an energy management system, decisions are often made from bills and assumptions rather than operational evidence.
The cost of weak data grows as customers become more specific. Sustainability questions in tenders increasingly ask for measurable information: energy consumption, emissions reduction plans, equipment efficiency, renewable procurement, waste reduction, and governance structures. Broad statements of intent carry less weight when buyers ask for evidence.
The first step is often less complex than a full decarbonisation programme. Submetering, energy audits, charger scheduling, lighting upgrades, compressed air checks, fleet utilisation analysis, regenerative systems, solar feasibility, and equipment maintenance can all reveal practical savings. The difficulty is frequently time, accountability, and confidence in where to begin.
Consultus points to options including funded solar installations and virtual energy management. Those models are likely to interest smaller businesses that lack capital or internal sustainability resource. If savings can be measured and projects can be implemented without large upfront cost, energy efficiency becomes easier to approve.
The report also highlights a shift in material handling procurement. Energy resilience is no longer separate from equipment strategy. Electric fleets, battery charging, automation, warehouse design, and materials handling equipment all interact with site energy demand. Operators planning fleet electrification or warehouse automation without understanding energy use risk creating new bottlenecks at the electrical infrastructure level.
Energy volatility is unlikely to disappear, and sustainability criteria are unlikely to retreat from tenders. Businesses that can measure consumption, reduce waste, and show credible progress will be better placed to defend margins and compete for contracts.
The Consultus and UKMHA report makes the gap visible. The unanswered question is how quickly material handling companies can close it before energy cost and customer requirements turn weak systems into lost business.
