Logistics Stories

Floss’s role is currently split between two teams the UK Investment Team and the Greater London Development Team. This is the second rotation of the 2-year graduate scheme at SEGRO, for which Floss needed a 2:1 in any degree. Previously she was working in the Thames Valley Asset Management Team.

She learned about the role the company website. The opportunity to work for a leading REIT (real estate investment trust) with a small headcount attracted her to the role, as it provides the opportunity to have a real involvement on all the projects you are working on. The best thing about her role is working for a company where you feel you really make an impact, even as a graduate!

Communication, time-management and problem solving are skills that Floss developed within her logistics career and a career highlight for Floss was completing her first letting of a small industrial unit in Slough.

Mark leads SEGRO’s strategy to grow its existing data centre portfolio outside of the Slough Trading Estate across UK and Continental Europe.

He has a BSc Real Estate degree from the University of Reading. He then joined SEGRO as a graduate and as part of the programme and worked towards completing his Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) to become a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) (MRICS).  Mark has been fortunate to progress and be promoted to Director since starting his career as a graduate at SEGRO.

Since joining SEGRO, it was always Mark’s aim to hold a leadership position. He emailed and tried to network with as many companies as he could gain work experience in real estate. Mark loves working across SEGRO’s portfolio and with our local teams in UK and Continental Europe.

Being lucky to start his career in logistics is one of Marks big career highlights!

Originally from Slovakia, Simona began in the Birchwood store but was keen to experience the distribution site and so transferred to Warrington, where she began work as a step-up colleague. She was quickly promoted to a department manager role.

“I’m only 22, but nobody has ever told me I’m too young to do anything here, which I really enjoy. I also enjoy the opportunity to mentor other apprentices and give them the confidence to know that here, everything is possible, no matter who you are or where you come from.”

Despite her rapid progress, Simona hopes it’s just the beginning.

“I want to go higher and climb the ladder. I’ve now got experience in both retail and distribution, so what’s really attractive to me is the prospect of working at ASDA House.”

With that in mind, Simona next step is likely a data analyst apprenticeship at ASDA House.

In her role as Early Careers Partner, Lucy manages and coordinates Early Careers and entry talent activities, the associated governance that comes along with it and employee experience, delivering a diverse pipeline of colleagues and entry talent into Wincanton.

Lucy was attracted to the role because she felt it was an area of talent acquisition where she could make a real difference. Her only knowledge of logistics came from her previous role as a retail manager, where she regularly dealt with deliveries and management of stock in a fast-paced warehouse environment with changing priorities. The skills she picked up there, such as communication, team work, problem-solving and people management have proven transferable and valuable within her role at Wincanton.

Lucy relishes the wide range of initiatives she’s able to work on within her role in Early Careers. To support her ongoing development, she was also able to complete a Level 3 Business Administration apprenticeship with Wincanton.

When asked what the best parts of her job are, Lucy says: “It is really exciting to be involved in new projects and programmes, and to support candidates through their recruitment journey with us. Seeing candidates succeed and join Wincanton is always very rewarding, for me as well as for them!”

Recognised by the managers in her team, including the Talent and Development Director, with a Managers’ Choice award, Lucy was praised for her work ethic and being a ‘go-to’ person in the team to support various projects and queries.

“It was great to know that I am making a difference to the wider team objectives.”

People are what make the logistics world turn, so the professionals who look after them, drive their progress and ensure their work is successful and fulfilling have a particularly relevant place in the industry.

Amanda’s role as Head of People in Group Operations & Transport at Wincanton is exactly that kind of role.

‘I contribute to the leadership, strategy and direction of the sector – supporting Directors and senior leaders in functional areas, whilst supporting a culture of high performance and continuous improvement.’

Though Amanda’s role now feels like such a perfect fit, logistics wasn’t always on her radar.

‘I don’t think I realised I was suited to a role in logistics until I worked in logistics! But I previously worked for one of the big food retailers in a number of operational and leadership roles, so on reflection this was a great foundation.’

Transferable skills have made all the difference, then, as has her ambition and passion for people.

‘The best thing about my role is genuinely the people I get to work alongside! My peers, my people team, the operational teams or our colleagues in the centre.’

As the Customs Risk and Audit Manager for the Europa Worldwide group, George is responsible for the group’s compliance with customs regulations / legislation and risk management strategy. This involves developing and implementing robust audit procedures to ensure the risk posed to the group through our customs operations are managed, reported on, and mitigated where possible.

He manages a team of customs compliance supervisors who conduct the auditing of declarations completed and the systems used within various customs divisions of the group across the UK & EU. The data that is produced from their auditing is compiled into output reports that are presented to the groups directors to discuss areas of concern with suggestions on how to implement I.T development to correct non-compliance and areas of focus for retraining.

His job requires a strong understanding of customs regulations and legislation as well as attention to detail and he has completed various levels of customs compliance academy training to further his knowledge however specific qualifications are not required.

George started working in the logistics industry when he was 19 as a junior customs clerk preparing declarations for sea freight containers. Since then, he has worked in various departments from a commercial customer facing role to operations, however since Brexit there has been a demand for people with an appetite for customs. George started at Europa in October 2020 as a Senior Customs declarant and from there has progressed to his current role.

The Customs Risk and Audit Manager position for George was a chance to develop and strengthen his understanding of global customs legislation whilst also being an opportunity to instil a “compliance focus” throughout the group. He believes by analysing the existing processes and procedures and adapting them to mitigate risk more efficiently he could really see a difference from the work he is doing daily.

Exposure to ever changing legislation and regulations and being able to successfully react as well as analysing and noticing improvements in the group’s overall compliance position is a big part of logistics.

Successfully overseeing the transition from the customs systems CHIEF to CDS was a great career highlight for George.

After attending the University of Stockholm to study teaching, but leaving to come to the UK, I joined the Europa Worldwide Group HR team as a Learning and Development (L&D) Trainer in February 2023 based at the firm’s headquarters in Dartford. My role is to deliver training across all the organisation’s divisions. My current role was recommended to me by a colleague from my previous job. I was desperate to try something new! My previous position was a little too ‘jack of all trades’ for me so I was really looking for a position that was specifically focused on L&D. The role in general was really appealing to me; it incorporated everything I wanted to be doing and it provided a new challenge, exposing me to the dynamic logistics sector. My former colleague was part of the HR Team and spotted a vacancy for a Learning and Development Trainer as part of Europa Worldwide Group and recommended I apply. Europa really encourages the team to recommend people for roles, in fact, there is an incentive scheme to support this, which worked out perfectly for me. From the moment I joined Europa, I have felt so welcomed and can’t really imagine myself anywhere else now.

Since joining Europa, I have worked on various projects including remote training for our Europa Air & Sea teams in Shanghai, Dubai and Hong Kong and the development of e-learning modules. No two days are the same for me. We work in such a fast-paced sector and company that there are constant moving parts. My role has exposed me to a completely new world, and I can see first-hand the positive changes being made within the sector. Currently I am delivering our in-house Management Training Programme which has been designed to ensure quality and consistency in management practices across the company.  This training will be delivered across our three divisions Europa Road, Europa Air & Sea and Europa Warehouse and our Group Central Services teams. Now employing over 1,400 staff globally, we have trebled our workforce over the past 10 years which means providing our teams with the necessary training to ensure future progression and growth is vital.

The 12-month programme, being rolled out across our 17 sites in the UK and Ireland, consists of one full day classroom training session per month and all learners are supported with additional content and regular 1-2-1 sessions.  Given the wide variety of different functions across the organisation (Sales, Warehousing, Transport planning, Finance, Supplier Relationship Managers to name just a few), it is really important that we understand how each team works and also what our learners’ primary challenges are.  This helps us adapt each session to best meet the learner needs. In the past two years, our Learning and Development team has increased threefold which shows Europa’s investment in the vast and diverse training needs across the business. As a company, we work to drive out complexity whilst creating inspiring workplaces with motivated and empowered employees and our training programmes are a big part of this. Each programme is unique, inspired by our company values, from ‘We give great customer service’ to ‘We build positive teams with family spirit’, our values help to shape the team we are and the success we achieve.

Learning and devlopment is important to me, personally, too! I am currently working towards my CIPD Level 3 training in Learning and Development that will support my current work and future progression. I am originally from Stockholm, Sweden, and left my degree for a gap year, which is when I came to the UK and started working in retail first, then Learning and Development. Since joining the Europa family, I have found a real passion for logistics and get a lot of fulfillment enabling the team to increase their skills. I am excited to be working towards a qualification that I feel will really support my growth within this sector.

My real standout memory from my time so far at Europa has to be the first training session I designed and delivered. Supporting mental wellbeing in the workplace has always been something that I am passionate about and so when, only four months into the role, I was given the opportunity to take ownership of creating our in-house module ‘Managing Mental Health Conversations’ it was both exciting and daunting at the same time. It was a big step so early into my role, but I delivered the training and received some brilliant feedback and felt such pride. This training programme was originally delivered to the Road and Customer Service Branch Managers and due to its success, is now fully integrated into our management training programme.

For me, now I have joined the logistics profession, I couldn’t imagine working within another sector. I find the variety, the people, the knowledge, and the enthusiasm of everyone is so powerful and motivating. I take great pride in delivering our training sessions and always feel so pleased when another cohort has passed through our programmes. In the future, I am looking forward to continuing my work towards my CIPD qualification, creating more effective, bespoke training sessions, and further developing my knowledge and skill set. I think logistics is a great sector to work in and I know it has some amazing possibilities for me as I progress within learning and development.

Sunnah came into logistics without really knowing what to expect; she hoped that the experience would be useful and she could build her confidence and capabilities along the way.

“My first impression of Wincanton was that everyone in the room is treated equally. It’s easy to feel intimidated when senior leaders are in the room, but it’s as easy to speak to the CEO as it is your line manager.”

The graduate scheme has seen Sunnah travel across the country, fulfilling her placement and getting a comprehensive introduction to the sector:

“I worked on an AGV project in Doncaster – which was a great experience for someone who hadn’t worked with robots before. My first placement was in Bristol as a transport manager for Howdens, then I went to Derby as a transport planner for Morrisons, and now I’m in the customer fulfilment centre for Waitrose in Greenford.”

Sunnah is revelling in the variety of the scheme and sees it as a potential positive for lots of other young people like her:

“My advice would be to not limit yourself when it comes to choosing placements, there will be many options to decide from but it’s good to go for roles that you would probably never go for!”

Tim joined the British Army Royal Engineers straight from school, and spent 21 years serving his country. Whilst serving Tim passed his Class 1 in January 2001, and became a Qualified Coach and Mentor – Transport Manager and Senior Course Instructor for Specialist Driving Courses in the Army, based at the Royal School of Military Engineering in Surrey.

After such a long military career, Tim felt daunted by a transition into a different industry and role, “I’d been used to a set way of doing things for a long time and I worried if I’d be able to adjust to the new way of operating.”

But he needn’t have worried. In April 2022, Tim joined Buffaload, a member of The Cold Chain Federation, the trade organisation who are the voice of the temperature-controlled supply chain in the UK.

“Buffaload made it a seamless transition into working in a civilian job. Some friends of mine leaving the service have struggled to adjust – I believe it’s all about the way the company approaches service leavers.”

On his move into logistics, Tim says, “I would recommend a career in logistics to any young person just starting out. There are so many different avenues to progress within the industry. It’s such a diverse and well structured industry to be involved with. I am extremely glad to have been given the opportunity to begin my second career in the logistics and transport industry with Buffaload.”

Before starting at Kuehne+Nagel, Holly knew very little about the logistics industry, and has really enjoyed learning whilst on the job.

“It’s an exciting industry to work in, particularly with the rise of e-commerce, and it’s a stable industry too.”

Now, as Reward & Benefit Lead, Holly is responsible for developing, designing and implementing the Reward Strategy across KNUK, as well as coordinating the existing reward cycles and benefit offerings for everyone at KNUK.

“In the logistics industry, we aim to offer market leading benefits. Some of the topics that I manage include our wellbeing strategy, our gender pay gap, bonus, annual salary reviews and private medical insurance.”

Holly completed a graduate scheme in logistics straight from university, which helped her gain the HR knowledge needed to excel in her role. Holly also gained her CIPD Level 5 qualification during her time as a graduate and, after completing the scheme, spent some time as an HR Business Partner, before building her management experience as HR Service Centre Manager.

She’d never considered the area of rewards and benefits before, but when an opportunity came up, she decided to take the leap. The role centres around some of her favourite parts of her work in general HR, making positive change to her colleagues’ lives and supporting their wellbeing. Now, she manages a small team of two Reward Specialists, too.

The autonomy to drive change within the organisation is one of Holly’s job highlights, and one of her proudest achievements so far has been introducing a colleague forum with the Kuehne+Nagel management board, giving colleagues a voice on topics that matter to them.

“Thanks to the colleague forum we have introduced volunteering days, enhanced our life assurance policy, and implemented a hybrid working approach.”

I am a Degree Apprentice at CEVA Logistics. When I joined, I worked in a warehouse environment within an operation. Then, due to the nature of my role as an apprentice not being fixed, I had the opportunity to move to the central role I am in currently. I now work across three teams within the Transition and Transformation business unit. The teams include Project Management, Business Process Excellence and Central Operations.

I will spend six months with each team, and as an example of the kind of work those teams do, the Project Management department completes all the internal and external projects within the business. Within this team, I have the opportunity to work on both new business implementations and internal changes. Business Process Excellence (BPE) is a team focusing on continuous improvement and standardisation.

This role consists of completing site classification assessments to ensure that all sites work to the same standards and then pushing beyond these to improve. It also includes supporting sites on their journey in continuously identifying and solving problems. The Japanese term for that is Kaizen (change for the better) and completing larger-scale improvement projects around the business.

Finally, the Central Operations team has a vast range of responsibilities. The Innovations team and the training department are included within this team, to name two. The team works to support new and existing businesses and ensure that everyone has the correct tools and training to work not only fully compliantly but also to a good standard.

To qualify for my apprenticeship, I needed GCSEs in Maths and English and then 3 A-Levels (with no preference as to which A-Levels). I currently attend Aston University, and I am completing a BSc in Supply Chain Management (Professional Practice).

I previously found my role through working with CEVA via an agency; during COVID, I worked as a Transport Clerk. During this time, I realised that I really enjoyed the environment, the company and the logistics sector as a whole. I felt the way CEVA operates aligns with my values as a person, which was a big thing for me. Also, as much as I was aware of the logistics industry, there were so many different routes I could have followed, so the complete range of opportunities within the business was huge for someone who was not yet sure which area of the sector would be best suited for them.

My favourite thing about my role is being able to make a change and empowering other people in the business to do the same. I also enjoy working at all levels of the organisation and teaching people good habits to operate in a lean way and create a good Kaizen culture. My career highlight would be being recognised for my work in the Project Management team and being shortlisted for the Rising Star of the Year award from Logistics UK.

Luke’s career so far has been multi-disciplined, with some time spent in education, supply chain and now in Health, Safety, Environment and Quality (HSEQ). His experience has helped him to build job and industry specific knowledge, as well as HSE capability and people skills.

In his current role as Group HSEQ & Compliance Director, Luke provides strategy and leadership for the national agenda in these specialist areas.

“This involves keeping abreast of emerging risks, and thought leadership. I challenge and influence internal and external stakeholders to apply human performance, to think differently about new ways of working in this space, both now and in the future.”

Luke was a member of NextGen, a high potential talent leadership programme at Wincanton, so when his current role was advertised internally he felt prepared and supported to go for it. And it’s with that same support from Wincanton leadership that he and his team feel able to really push the boundaries of what is possible within HSEQ.

“Wincanton is constantly innovating to bring growth opportunities to its customers, whether in productivity, efficiency, sustainability or in this case HSEQ. I knew innovation would be at the forefront of this new role and I had a clear strategy to take that growth and innovation platform forward for Wincanton.”

Luke is keen to recommend HSEQ to those looking to embark on a career in logistics, listing a degree level education, recognised HSE qualifications and some time in a relevant role as vital to finding growth opportunities, of which he’s found plenty during his time at Wincanton:

“There are a whole collection of highlights from my career so far – I feel spoiled in that respect, but being shortlisted at Wincanton for our NextGen leadership programme and then benefiting from senior leadership networking and mentoring has been very valuable.”

Brothers Paul and Simon began their careers in logistics alongside their father 30 years ago.

“Our dad also said to us when we were out with him: ‘that’s the firm you want to be working for boys, Tesco!’ We all applied for Tesco jobs, and we got them.”

Both Paul and Simon became drivers straight from school and have worked alongside each other ever since.

“We’ve progressed to driver trainers. It’s rewarding when you see the apprenticeship guys come through. It’s great to see that someone else has taken on your knowledge and put it into action.”

For both, the appeal of the job isn’t just the teaching, but the togetherness of the team.

“We love our jobs. It’s like coming to work with our family, you know? That’s what helps keep a lot of people here, the camaraderie.”

Khushbu left school with no qualifications, but quickly saw that logistics offered her opportunities that other sectors couldn’t.

“More than qualifications, logistics requires on the job experience to understand it”

Originally from India, her first job in the sector was as an entry level warehouse operative in Italy, which is where she began to see career pathways open up in front of her. She then moved to England, initially with DHL, before going on to work for Kuehne+Nagel.

“Logistics is a universal language. No matter your ethnicity or language, all countries need to move goods. I love that from leaving school with nothing, I’ve been able to become a service manager for one of the biggest logistics companies in the world.”

At Kuehne+Nagel, Khushbu began as a Customs Administrator, but within 11 months had been promoted into her current management role.

“I manage a team of customs specialists responsible for the Groupage side of exports to Europe. My job is to ensure that everyone and everything is aligned with Government guidelines, as well as creating a working environment where everyone feels included and empowered.”

Shelby arranges events for our members. This includes regional meetings, our Freight Services Awards, charity dinners, Young Forwarder Network socials and virtual events. Her role required a C grade or above in English and Math, basic IT skills. Her sister-in-law worked for Seetec, and she saw the job vacancy online and sent it to her.

Shelby built the following skills from her experiences in school such as good communication, time management, adaptability, and empathy.

She is motivated by getting opportunities to meet new people at different functions and events. She also loves that she can travel to different places in the country that she hasn’t been to before!

One of Shelby’s career highlights has been planning and attending our Freight Service Awards. We spent half the year planning everything, taking bookings, making sure everything was perfect, and then when the day came, it was really satisfying to see it all come together and all our guests enjoying themselves and even though I was working the whole day, it didn’t feel like it, it was fun!

Amy is currently responsible for the growth of new and existing business for FMCG customers in the UK. Whether that is customers based in the UK who are looking for services in this area and/or globally, or global customers who are looking to expand into the UK and require a supply chain partner. Her role includes building a growth strategy for the FMCG market and its sub-verticals, managing a team of 8 sales colleagues (both Client Managers and Sales Directors), responsibility for revenue and GP targets for the vertical, internal, and external stakeholder management, Salesforce management and compliance. Her role required a Graduate Degree.

Amy was head hunted by a previous colleague. They reached out on LinkedIn and outlined the role and the company. Both the values of the company and the profile of the role appealed to her due to the scale of the business and the ambitious strategy they had embarked upon. Amy wanted to be part of shaping the execution of such a strategy.

Prior to moving into the logistics industry, Amy had a very eclectic work experience background, however, all pervious roles had similarities that supported her decision to move into the logistics industry and transfer those skills. The main skill set was creative problem solving, being able to look at challenges from a different angle, identify root causes and build commercial solutions, Stakeholder management.

Amy believes there is a real skill to ensuring that you negotiated hard enough to hold your company position with a customer, however, understand where to ‘give’ in order to maintain and/or build a partnership relationship. Commercial negotiations are the beginning of a relationship that can either go on to be positive or negative from this initial experience.

Managing the commercial elements of the NHS Supply Chain Account during the Covid Pandemic was a career highlight for her. Not only did she learn a significant amount about supply chain, politics, commercial negotiations etc. Amy also felt like she was part of a supply chain that really was impacting people’s lives on a daily basis.

Learning through apprenticeships at Kuehne+Nagel offers several benefits. They provide practical, on-the-job training, allowing individuals to learn by doing real work. They come with structured learning plans, ensuring that participants receive comprehensive training tailored to their roles. Mentors are always on hand to offer guidance and support to facilitate personal and professional growth.

Imani likes her apprenticeship for numerous reasons. The first being the experience you gain in such a short period of time. That’s down to her colleagues always willing to help and train her. The second being the exposure she gets. “Working for Kuehne+Nagel, you get to learn so much about the world of logistics and what goes into doing a great job for our customers.

Lastly, the qualifications. Once Imani finishes her apprenticeship, she’ll have achieved not only a level 3 certificate in customer service, but also the level 4 qualification in sales.

Elizabeth started at Kuehne+Nagel straight out of University, taking up a Graduate Internship on the recommendation of a family member:

“I was always quite analytical and organised, with a keen interest in politics – which might not sound like something you associate with logistics, but actually proved incredibly useful for customs in navigating changes to the market brought about by Brexit.”

Elizabeth worked through a number of different roles at the company before settling into her current role as a Customs Implementations Manager.

“I’ve loved working for the business ever since I started. My current role involves implementing new customs brokerage contracts, liaising with customers, data gathering and ensuring smooth handovers into our operational teams.” 

“I started my maternity leave at the end of March 2022 and was out of the business for a total of 9 months. I was initially nervous at taking so much time out. However, my management team have been incredibly supportive to ensure my smooth transition back into the business. It is definitely a struggle to find a new balance between working full time and caring for a little one at home, however I am really happy and proud to be reclaiming my working identity.”

Her career highlight was a successful Brexit Implementation Project, which helped the whole Keuhne+Nagel EU-UK adjust to a post-Brexit working model.

Meg was looking to strike a balance between continuing her studies, and getting hands-on experience in the workplace. Having initially planned doing English at University, she changed tack when she realised that a logistics degree apprenticeship with the DHL renewals excellence team would offer her the combination she wanted.

“My line manager Kelly is extremely supportive and together we try to align my studies to my practice, so that it becomes more relevant. I’m studying for a business management degree and I’ve found modules like economics and leadership really useful in the workplace.”

Her role is all about driving efficiencies across the DHL network, but for Meg the best bit is the support she gets from those she works with.

“I’m getting a degree I’m interested in, workplace experience and a good wage at the same time. And on top of that I get to work with a team that are incredible and have done nothing but support me since the day I started.

“I feel like DHL is really invested in young people.”