Senior leaders and Government to ‘strengthen supply chains’

Senior leaders from major UK businesses and the Government met on 25 November to drive resilience across transport, health, defence, energy and data infrastructure. The Critical Supply Group (CSG) round table, timed to coincide with Critical Infrastructure Security Month, focused on strengthening the country’s supply chains to support essential sectors.

Around 40 senior representatives from leading UK companies, three Government departments and organisations including Made in Britain and Wilton Park joined industry bodies and supply chain experts for the closed-door session. The meeting forms part of an ongoing programme of national and regional engagements aimed at promoting practical collaboration across the UK’s 14 Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sectors, which include energy, transport, health, defence, water, communications, food and digital services.

George Middleton, lead convener of the CSG and a director of MAP, said: “This meeting signals the commitment of those involved to building resilient and secure supply chains. By making targeted connections and enabling collaboration between companies – and between business and the Government – we are strengthening the critical supply chains on which daily life depends.”

CSG is a business-led, cross-sector alliance engaging more than 3,100 companies across 14 CNI sectors and multiple countries. Managed by MAP UK & International, it is supported by Made in Britain and Wilton Park, with further partners invited to join efforts to strengthen critical supply chain resilience.

Long-term reilience strategies
Recent global shocks have exposed vulnerabilities in supply chains worldwide, intensifying the need for coordinated resilience planning across Government and industry. The roundtable addressed international partnerships to strengthen cross-border supply chains and SME engagement, ensuring smaller manufacturers are embedded into long-term resilience strategies. Made in Britain, representing more than 2,200 UK manufacturing companies, is a strategic supporter of the initiative and will champion the voice of SMEs during discussions.

Made in Britain’s CEO John Pearce said “I have been both pleased and proud to support the development of CSG, seeing collaboration as both essential and urgent for the long-term resilience of UK supply chains, within which British manufacturing companies, especially the SMEs, play an integral part.”

Wilton Park, an executive agency of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, is also backing the CSG as part of its role in providing a global forum for strategic discussion. Wilton Park’s CEO Tom Cargill said: “Wilton Park is increasingly focused on bringing together partners to boost UK growth and resilience. Supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks threaten essential systems both within the UK and for our allies. That is why we are pleased to be supporting the CSG and are facilitating vital work in this area.”

November 2025 marks the second time the UK has observed Critical Infrastructure Security Month, alongside partners in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, recognising the shared responsibility to protect and strengthen essential systems.