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Last month, Wincanton exhibited at Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2025. DSEI is the flagship event for the global defence industry bringing together the most influential decision makers and senior stakeholders from across the sector. This year saw more than 45,000 attendees from around the world come together to connect with over 1,600 exhibitors spanning aerospace, land, naval, space, sea, medical and more. Here are our top three takeaways from this year's event:
1. Now is the time for action
This year’s theme, Preparing the Future Force signalled a notable shift in tone. While DSEI has traditionally focused on long-term defence strategy and innovation, this year saw the emphasis move firmly towards warfighting readiness.
Technology continues to play a large part in defence capabilities – we saw significant advances this year across digital integration, autonomous systems and intelligent logistics.
With the technology in place and suppliers and Tier 1 primes poised to deliver, what’s needed now is decisive implementation – decisions must be made, investments confirmed, and funding released. While momentum is building, the need for decisive action is growing urgent. Now it is time to equip our forces for immediate readiness, and swift decision-making is essential to maintaining strategic advantage.
“Logistics is now, more than ever, a key enabler of defence capability. For suppliers, effective logistics underpins contract delivery, enhances export potential and supports the globalisation of defence programmes.”
Derek Stirling, Defence Director, Wincanton (now part of GXO).
2. Globalisation and localisation are key to operational efficiency
Another major theme was the UK’s ambition to become export ready. The future of the UK defence sector will depend on international interoperability and the ability to deliver solutions that are deployable and effective across diverse global contexts. Recent government reforms are already streamlining export processes, reflecting a clear recognition that strategic advantage depends on the ability to move assets globally – quickly, at scale and with robust logistical support.
However, global ambition must be underpinned by local strength. Achieving export readiness requires strong onshore manufacturing and robust domestic supply chain capabilities, ensuring that the economic and employment benefits of defence investment directly serve local communities. We explore these themes in further depth in our insights paper, ‘Enabling defence through logistics’.
The UK government has already signalled its commitment to localisation through the Strategic Defence Review 2025 which prioritises local job creation, infrastructure investment, industry development, and local procurement. Ultimately, defence solutions must be designed with adaptability at their core – able to flex between global demand and domestic priorities – with logistics serving as the critical link that enables this flexibility.
Wincanton: a logistics partner ready for the challenge
- 160 locations around the UK and Ireland
- £1 billion of assets managed across our estate
- 1 million square feet of warehouse
- >99% inventory accuracy
- 5 million transactions carried out annually
- 100,000 annual export-controlled movements
- 600 highly trained, security compliant operatives
3. Collaboration as a force multiplier
Meeting the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) requirement for accelerated timelines, increased volumes, and faster distribution will not be possible without collaboration between the MoD, Tier 1 Primes plus the broader supply chain.
Defence contractors cannot achieve the MoD’s ambitions alone – collaboration is essential for building resilient, connected, and adaptable supply networks capable of operating in contested and congested environments. Lessons from Covid-19 highlight the importance of supply chain resilience and agility in times of crisis. By aligning priorities and integrating capabilities, the defence industry will be more than ready to defend and protect the UK.
“The defence industry is entering a period of reform and transformation. As programmes become increasingly global and assets need to move faster than ever, supply chains are becoming more complex. Partnering within the supply chain and logistics process is now commonplace, working collaboratively is a critical win theme to enable greater efficiencies and controls.– optimised logistics is the missing link that drives operational efficiency.”
Derek Stirling, Defence Director, Wincanton (now part of GXO).
By working together, we will win.
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About the Author: Derek Stirling
Derek Stirling, Defence Director, Wincanton (now part of GXO)
Derek leads the Defence and Industrial Sector. He joined Wincanton in 2015 to lead the TUPE of the BAE Contract and closure of the ACA Contract. Derek assumed the role as Country Manager in 2021 to lead the groups strategy to develop and implement our new Scotland Gateway. Derek worked for Amazon before joining Wincanton. Experienced operational leader with over 25 years working for large corporates throughout his career.