Company: GXO
Role: Shift Manager
For Tom, logistics was once a side hustle – but now it’s a career!
“I used to work as a part time Sports Therapist for a professional football team. For additional income I joined my current company as a Warehouse Operative. After 12 months as an Operative, I joined the Graduate Scheme in Jan 2021 as an internal applicant and have now accepted a permanent position as a Shift Manager- on the same contract that I was initially an Operative!”
His knowledge of the industry stretched little further than warehousing, and it certainly wasn’t a sector he considered a future career prospect.
“Realising what opportunities existed within the sector changed my mind. These included working with cutting-edge technology, accelerated career progression and not being fixed to a location.”
He might have left the physio room and the football pitch behind, but Tom has picked up valuable skills along the way – all of which helped kick off his logistics career.
“I had confidence in leadership through my time in sports teams through school and university, as well as critical thinking from my degree – a skill that is transferable to this industry.”
These days, Tom is based at a Regional Distribution Centre for a major UK grocery retailer. He puts those leadership skills to work heading up a shift warehouse team of around 360 colleagues, giving them all the backing and tools they need to keep the supply chain running.