British chief executives are increasingly alarmed about the fragility of international supply chains, telling a global procurement consultancy that even a fortnight’s disruption among their top three suppliers could jeopardise sizeable chunks of revenue.
Scale of the exposure
In the firm’s Global Supply Chain Resilience Outlook, UK respondents were the most likely among markets surveyed to report acute financial vulnerability. A clear majority — 58% — said a two-week hit to their top three suppliers would put between 5% and 20% of revenue at risk. A further 42% estimated that 21% to 40% of revenue would be in jeopardy.
| Risk band | Proportion of UK CEOs |
|---|---|
| 5–20% of revenue | 58% |
| 21–40% of revenue | 42% |
The data are drawn from a survey of more than 500 global CEOs at companies with annual revenues above $500m, and include responses from 100 UK-based executives.
Prepared to pay for resilience — and how they would fund it
UK executives appear ready to spend to reduce that vulnerability. The British cohort said they would accept, on average, a 17% uplift in third-party supplier costs to guarantee supply continuity.
When asked how they would meet that price, respondents favoured passing the increase on to customers more than peers in other markets:
- 43% said they would raise prices charged to customers;
- 30% would try to find savings elsewhere in the business;
- 27% would absorb the extra cost by reducing margins.
That appetite to transfer costs highlights a trade-off for firms between competitive positioning and securing supply lines — a choice that could feed through to consumers and inflationary pressures depending on scale.
What keeps CEOs up at night
Respondents identified a range of systemic threats contributing to supply chain fragility. The top concerns in the UK were:
- 27% citing climate change and extreme weather;
- 21% pointing to protectionist policies;
- 19% naming conflict and geopolitical tensions;
- 17% concerned about sustainability targets and regulatory requirements.
Cyber security is a particularly acute worry. More than half of UK chiefs — 52% — reported experiencing a supply chain disruption caused by a cyber incident in the past 24 months, the highest share across the markets surveyed. Almost half (45%) agreed that substantial revenue would be at risk if a critical supplier suffered a cyber attack.
Implications for business and policy
The findings underline a strategic shift. Firms that have relied on lean, cost-minimising supply networks now face a reckoning as geopolitical and climate shocks rise, and as cyber incidents proliferate. The declared willingness to accept higher supplier costs suggests businesses are prepared to rebalance procurement decisions towards resilience rather than lowest price.
For policymakers, the survey reinforces the case for coordinated action on cyber security standards across supply chains, clearer signals on trade policy to reduce sudden protectionist shocks, and support for private-sector investment in resilience where social benefits exceed the price firms are willing to pay.
For investors and corporate boards, the report is a reminder to scrutinise concentration risk among suppliers, contingency planning and the realistic cost of hardening supply chains. Where companies opt to pass costs on to consumers, markets and competition authorities will watch for sectoral effects on prices.
As conflicts persist in the Middle East and Ukraine, and climate and cyber threats rise, the survey signals that UK corporate leaders expect these pressures to remain a fundamental and costly part of operating in global markets.
