Company: Wincanton
Role: Managing Director, General Merchandise
“I am the Managing Director of General Merchandise at Wincanton, responsible for online fulfilment, warehouse and transport logistics operations for well-known brands including B&Q, Screwfix, Halfords and Primark.”
Rachel has the honour of leading approximately 7,000 of Wincanton’s 20,000 colleagues, in her quest to deliver safe, efficient and low cost operations for Wincanton’s customers. Her team also drives and supports their customers’ growth through continuous improvement, collaboration, innovation and automation.
Rachel has worked in third-party logistics for the Retail and Consumer market for over 20 years, joining Wincanton as a graduate with a first-class degree in Economics. She progressed up the ranks, becoming a qualified CIMA Accountant within the first four years of joining the business. From there, she took on senior strategic commercial roles, most recently as Finance Director of the Retail and Consumer Sector.
“Having made the journey myself, I am a passionate sponsor of developing internal talent, both up the ranks and across business functions.”
She considers herself lucky to have landed in such a rich and varied industry as logistics, having been introduced to Wincanton by a General Manager who thought that the industry would be a great fit for her – she couldn’t have been more right!
“Logistics offers the variety to try different things. I worked my way through the finance and commercial career path before taking a complete change of path into operations. I haven’t looked back since!”
Rachel finds it hard to pick just one thing she loves most about her role, but the people take the biscuit.
“Nothing beats watching others flourish and develop, whether that be helping those with learning difficulties find employment, or promoting a senior manager to the next stage in their career.”