On a Pan-European basis, the logistics sector continues to experience major transformation. Supply chains are being reconfigured in the search for optimal efficiency, leading to the emergence of core logistics locations that serve large urban areas and facilitate the smooth running of global trade routes.

The most profound change, however, is yet to come. Last-mile, or last-touch, service providers are having to game-plan how they will meet the demands of growing e-commerce needs. In the background, densification, rising transport costs and competing delivery methods are asking questions that many logistics players still do not have the full answers to.

“Pandora’s box is open now,” says Paul Graham, the chairman of Clarion Gramercy, a manager that focuses on logistics and light industrial real estate across Europe. “Consumers have become fully accustomed to demanding what they want, when they want it and where.

“The problem is that the logistics indust