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The latest snapshot of activity from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has shown that British factories are currently struggling to meet the demand for goods. Heightened inflationary pressure alongside spikes in demand that are some of the strongest in decades mean that there are serious challenges in the manufacturing sector. Almost half of firms said that order books were above normal and export order books are now at the strongest they have been since 2019.

The challenges of 2020 and beyond have seen many businesses taking increasingly innovative approaches when it comes to looking for opportunities to improve and evolve. For one organisation that included setting up a remote fleet solution to enable it to help clients - including the NHS - cope with the HGV driver shortage that hit the UK this year. The company has seen a significant rise in profits over the past year - an impressive 40% spike - as more organisations around the UK start looking for ways to deal with the shortage of HGV drivers by outsourcing part of delivery requirements or finding alternative warehouse space to store products.

The supply chain crisis has been a rolling topic in the UK news over the past year. However, despite many recent troubles, there is one sector that appears to be shrugging off the impact of this difficult time - the construction industry. Despite being one of the sectors most affected by the supply chain crisis, UK construction achieved considerable output growth in October. In fact, the most recent data shows that industry recovery accelerated from the eight-month low that affected construction in September. While the main driver for this growth remains residential construction, there was also a notable increase in the commercial part of the sector.

The supply chain crisis in the UK has created a lot of frustration for both customers and suppliers - other than the pandemic there has never been a timelier reminder that a single series of events can completely turn life on its head. The past year has shown us just how important a resilient supply chain is but the frequent disruptions have been worrying. While the recent fuel crisis can be attributed in part to the after effects of Brexit, plus the disruption to HGV training that came from COVID, there are also other factors that have had an influence.

In the wake of the supply chain crisis that has hit the UK in recent weeks the government has taken the step of putting someone in an advisory role for this essential infrastructure. Sir David Lewis, who is the former CEO of Tesco, has been appointed as the government's Supply Chain Advisor. His role will be to provide advice on any improvements that can be made to the current situation, as well as longer term changes that will be necessary to ensure resilience.

Although life seems to be getting back to normal for many of us, even as the pandemic continues to rumble on, what many people don't realise is that we are currently in the middle of the worst supply chain crisis since the 1970s in the UK. The fault lies fairly squarely at the door of COVID-19, which threw a huge spanner in the works of the fragile and intricately connected global supply chains that are vital to the British economy.

Supply chain resilience and maximising opportunities for growth are two key themes across the economy in a world ravaged by the pandemic. Now, a new opportunity to capitalise on both has been identified in the form of the defence sector. Currently, the defence sector in the UK accounts for £12 billion GVA and employs around 200,000 people, whether directly or indirectly. It's also a sector with a large presence in areas of the country that have been identified as central to the government's 'levelling up' agenda.

When it comes to international sourcing strategy, cost is often a defining factor for many businesses. This is especially so given the changing conditions that every enterprise has faced over the past year and the increased need for resilience and agility in order to be able to respond at speed. Competitive sourcing has had a big role to play in this, whether that is with respect to looking overseas to find the best prices on raw materials or outsourcing processes to help keep costs down - and that often means looking overseas at low-cost countries.

Digital stock management is a tool that could help to overcome many of the challenges that continue to arise in supply chain management today. Over the past year we have seen a lot of disruption to supply chains as well as issues of stockpiling and shortages. One of the most pressing areas where this caused the most concern was with respect to essential medication. COVID-19 vaccines have made a huge contribution to opening up the UK once again but there have been issues with these - and many other medications that have either been in short supply or forecast to run out due to pandemic or Brexit obstacles. Digital stock management provides many more options when it comes to ensuring that the right stockpiling is being done, and that there is effective monitoring in place.

The reopening roadmap continues apace in the UK and as we pass the latest milestone with more businesses bringing staff back into offices and warehouses, there are warnings about the consequences that this could have for energy consumption.