Policy paper

Supply Chain Centre mission statement and action plan (web version)

Published 17 June 2026

Introduction

Supply chains – the complex network of resources, activities and processes that go into developing the products and services we need – have been under increasing strain in recent years. Global events have exposed dependencies on a small number of countries and firms for certain goods and services, alongside the logistical chokepoints that limit movement of goods when disrupted.

We must be prepared for this unsettled climate to continue with a fragmenting geopolitical landscape, the increasing use of trade levers as a tool for political leverage, and the wide-ranging impacts of climate change and transformative new technologies on the global economy. Strengthening our supply resilience is therefore no longer a choice but a necessity.

Mission and objectives

Against this backdrop, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has established a new Supply Chain Centre, which will offer a new centre of focus for this agenda in the UK. The centre’s mission is to ensure that, in an increasingly challenging and uncertain global environment, the UK has a secure supply of the inputs it needs, and that businesses are equipped for sustained growth now and in the future.

Based within DBT, the centre will house policy and analytical experts with the knowledge and insight to deliver this mission. This will include the innovative Global Supply Chains Intelligence Programme (GSCIP), which combines government and industry data to reveal risks linked to products, suppliers and geographies. Moreover, it will act as a system-wide hub, providing valuable oversight and direction on the supply chain resilience agenda across government.

The Supply Chain Centre’s mission is underpinned by the following 6 objectives.

Anticipating future supply chain risks

We will use government’s foresight capabilities to anticipate how global risks and trends – including geopolitical tensions, the impacts of climate change, and demand for new technologies – will affect supply chains in years to come to enhance preparedness for the future.

Identifying the inputs the UK needs

We will build a deep, evidence-based understanding of the goods, products and services that are most vital to the UK’s growth, infrastructure and security to enable government, businesses and institutions to more effectively target resilience-building activity and support.

Building domestic resilience

We will take action – in partnership with UK businesses – to strengthen domestic supply of the inputs the UK needs most vitally, including by guiding and informing domestic policy interventions across government.

Fostering resilience through global partnerships

We will broaden and diversify global supply options by opening up new and more competitive markets for UK business. We will shape international norms and standards that support resilience, transparency and responsible practices across complex global supply chains.

Responding to supply chain disruption

We will co-ordinate and inform cross-government activity when supply chain shocks do occur, ensuring that government responses are supported by a strong and rigorous evidence base.

Supporting and learning from business

We will equip UK businesses with the guidance and information to make choices that support resilience, as well as ensuring government policymaking is informed by industry expertise.

Identifying growth driving ‘inputs’ and strengthening their resilience

As set out in the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy (IS): “long-term sustainable growth must be built on secure and resilient foundations”. In recognition of this, the IS committed government to conduct an in-depth exercise to establish which goods and services are essential for the success of the IS growth-driving and foundational sectors. This ambitious exercise represents the first major output of the Supply Chain Centre and focuses on IS goods-based inputs. Inputs such as the complex machinery that supports our manufacturing industries and the materials for modern clean energy solutions, like fusion and hydrogen power, underpin the UK’s growth sectors, enabling them to thrive.

The centre has identified a wide range of goods considered vital for the manufacturing Industrial Strategy sectors and foundational sectors that underpin them. Inputs include raw materials, manufactured parts, and finished products, with their ‘criticality’ determined by whether a lack of access to the inputs could significantly disrupt production processes and damage the growth of the UK economy.

The inputs were identified through an extensive programme of analysis, engagement with sector experts from across government, and further verification through interviews and focus groups with industry and academia. We will update this analysis periodically based on market developments and stakeholder insights, ensuring the list remains relevant and accounts for the inputs that will be needed to support the way industries, technologies and demand evolve in the future.

Categories of growth-driving inputs

The Supply Chain Centre identified 36 broad categories of growth-driving inputs as follows (not all products or goods within these categories have been identified as critical)^{[footnote 1]}:

• adhesives
• alcohols and solvents (industrial use)
• aluminium
• batteries
• cement and concrete
• ceramic products
• colouring preparations, paints and putties
• computing equipment
• copper
• electronic components
• electronic devices
• engines and motors
• fertilisers
• fibres (natural and man-made)
• glass
• heavy industrial machinery
• inorganic chemicals and compounds
• iron and steel
• laboratory reagents
• mineral oils and by-products
• nickel
• optical, measuring and precision instruments
• organic chemicals and compounds
• other metals and metal ores
• paper and paperboard
• plastics
• precious metals
• resins
• rubber
• salts and mineral salts
• soaps and surfactants
• specialised vehicles
• sugars and starches (industrial use)
• tin
• wood and articles of wood
• zinc

Having a clearer understanding of the most vital inputs across the economy will enable government, businesses and public finance institutions (PuFins) to direct more effective resilience-building activity and support. This will help ensure that support is targeted to build resilience in the areas deemed most critical to UK growth.

In the Industrial Strategy, we committed to ensuring resilience is embedded into future investment and financial support. We are working closely with UK PuFins – including UK Export Finance (UKEF), the National Wealth Fund, and the British Business Bank – to ensure the Supply Chain Centre’s analysis informs their investment activities.

PuFins support business by mobilising capital to drive growth in the UK. The centre’s analysis will be considered alongside commercial assessments of opportunities and the PuFins’ individual financing mandates and products. UKEF specifically has reviewed its mandate with a view to taking on a broader trade and investment remit and will consider ways the Supply Chain Centre’s analysis could help better assess opportunities to promote economic resilience and growth.

We encourage UK businesses in the IS manufacturing sectors to review the 36 categories listed in this document and identify where they may rely on goods within these groupings. This can then be used to evaluate their supply chains for those goods as part of current and future operations. Businesses will need to make impactful change by using the list to monitor their own supply chains more closely and take independent action where vulnerabilities exist.

The Supply Chain Centre will support this by hosting tailored support sessions for the IS manufacturing sectors to share further insights on our analysis. This may include:

• helping businesses to understand potential risks to their supply of specific goods
• considering potential routes to diversifying their supply chains
• identifying UK producers of goods critical to their own growth strategies

Responding to crises and global unrest

The conflict in the Middle East in 2026 emphasises the need for government to adapt to international crises and global supply chain disruptions as they emerge. Unrest in the Middle East and ongoing disruption to the Strait of Hormuz continue to have significant implications for global supply chains. In response, the Supply Chain Centre has established a dedicated Middle East response team which has been supporting and informing government’s wider response efforts.

The team will remain in place for as long as necessary to manage the impacts of the conflict. We are focusing on:

• working with other government departments and sector teams to assess the impacts on the UK’s critical supply chains (informed by our understanding of critical inputs), both in the immediate and longer-term, looking at supply and price risks and transmissions to the wider economy
• working with responsible sector teams and departments to apply analysis and understanding to government contingency plans for the most at-risk critical supply chains and sectors
• working with international partners to maintain a clear picture of the global impact of the crisis and cooperation with like-minded partners on responses

The government has already demonstrated its willingness to take decisive action in response to the current conflict, such as the temporary reopening of the Ensus bioethanol plant in Teesside to preserve critical carbon dioxide (CO2) supplies. The Supply Chain Centre will continue providing government decision-makers with the evidence needed to inform these types of interventions.

Supply Chain Centre action plan

Alongside the focuses outlined in this document, the Supply Chain Centre will pursue a 14-point action plan to support delivery of our 6 core missions. These actions range from analytical projects, cross-government co-ordination, to collaboration with stakeholders.

Table 1: Supply Chain Centre 14-point action plan

Core objectives	Actions
Anticipating future supply chain risks	1. Maintain a government register of long-term risks to supply chains, informed by horizon scanning activity, to maximise UK preparedness. 2. Work with the Government Office for Science to implement findings of ‘Global Supply Chains’ – a foresight report on risk and resilience – to ensure policymakers within government and beyond can identify vulnerabilities in supply chains and prepare for uncertain futures.
Identifying the inputs the UK needs	3. Conduct periodic updates of the critical goods-based inputs for the IS sectors and update industry on findings as appropriate. 4. Host information-sharing sessions with industry stakeholders to discuss findings from Supply Chain Centre analysis of critical inputs, subject to data sharing agreements and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) being in place.
Building domestic resilience	5. Continue working with UK PuFins to ensure insights from Supply Chain Centre analysis informs activity where relevant to their mandates and priority sectors. 6. Pursue opportunities for ‘business matchmaking’ between producers in the UK of critical goods with users of those same inputs.
Fostering resilience through global partnerships	7. Pursue new delivery-focused international partnerships – modelled on the UK-Canada Critical Minerals collaboration – focused on building resilience for specific critical products and industries through technical collaboration, business matchmaking and joint investment scoping. 8. Support introduction of provisions on supply chain resilience into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as an outcome of the General Review to shape international norms on this issue. 9. Take advantage of existing collaboration mechanisms, including the supply chain cooperation provisions agreed in the UK-Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement (to be implemented subject to Parliamentary procedure), as well as other structured dialogues with priority partners.
Responding to supply chain disruption	10. Support the government’s crisis response efforts by providing evidence and co-ordinating supply chain-related action across government. 11. Explore scope to conduct joint supply chain stress testing exercises with industry. 12. Advocate for ‘early warning systems’ with international partners to enable us to connect quickly and work in tandem in times of supply chain crisis.
Supporting and learning from business	13. Develop clearer standards for business on actions they should be taking periodically to map their supply chains, explore alternative sourcing options and ensure disruption preparedness. 14. Establish an advisory group of supply chain experts to ensure the centre is drawing upon the latest insights and innovations within industry and academia.

1. Grouping names were informed by and (where possible) aligned to the Harmonized System (2 digit) Chapter definitions. For readability or brevity, some grouping names were shortened. ↩