Europa

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.

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.