UK - Coming as driven by clockwork, the first week of July once again hosted one of the highlights in the warehousing and logistics industry’s busy calendar seeing over 400 guests fill the Ballroom Suite of the Dorchester Hotel in London for the UK Warehousing Association’s (UKWA) 16th Annual Awards for Warehousing, including the Presentation Ceremony and Annual Luncheon, sponsored by fork lift truck and materials handling group Jungheinrich UK.

UKWA CEO Peter Ward gave the guests a warm welcome on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year and thanked all of the applicants, saying: ‘You are all winners’. Gracing this year’s event as guest speaker, former Director General of the CBI and Trade Minister, Lord Digby Jones delivered a rousing clarion call for manufacturing in the UK and a passionate plea for greater education and skills, a cry heard often these days throughout the supply chain. He thanked UKWA Awards guests who, he said, create UK wealth.

Lord Jones echoed many key UKWA themes which impact on the sector. On skills and education he provided the shocking statistics that half the children coming out of school this summer will not be able to read and write to a standard expected of an 11 year old, and adding that 1 in 5 adults are functionally illiterate. The pertinent point he raised here: if you can’t read an instruction manual, you can’t start an apprenticeship. He continued:

“We need more and better skilled people. We need kids coming out of school who can read, write, count and operate a computer. They need to be equipped to deal with the greatest movement of goods and services around the world that we have ever seen - globalisation.”

Getting ahead in globalisation, according to Lord Jones, will need reform for the whole of Europe. The industry can raise the standard of the whole EU by taking ‘best in class’ practice from the three big countries - the UK’s flexible labour, which leads to low unemployment; Germany’s ability to get infrastructure built; and French training that makes workers productive. He concluded that politically and economically ‘there’s never been a better time to deal with these big strategic issues’.

Lord Jones then presented Greg Deak of Peel Ports, 2015 UKWA Multimodal Champion with his trophy. Greg won the competition, held during the Multimodal exhibition in April, which was based on a 15-minute ‘Speed’ version of the Business on the Move educational board game. Greg gained the biggest balance sheet from over 40 games played during the event. Then it was the turn for Lord Jones to announce the 2015 UKWA Award Winners:

Best New UKWA Member: Sponsored by Toyota Material Handling - NNR Global Logistics

A newcomer to the UK, but not logistics, NNR has its roots in freight forwarding, with its global HQ located in Fukuoka, in Japan. On 1 June 2014, after 6 months of careful planning and modifications to the facility, the company’s flagship contract logistics facility in Northampton was opened which was met with high praise from the UKWA inspector.

Junior Manager of the Year: Sponsored by Aisle Master Ltd - Carla Dobson of the Samuel Grant Group

Dobson is an expert in the Samson Nano Wrapping System. She helps external sales staff with her expertise to enable them to better sell the Samson Nano System, time, which she gives freely and patiently. She has closed existing discussions, as well as generated new leads.

Warehouse Manager of the Year: Sponsored by Knapp UK - Scott Wallace of Potter Logistics

Scott was promoted to Operations Manager in 2010, but last year faced his greatest challenge to date when he was given the task of a warehouse move to a new site, which included an operational move of 15,000 pallets. Scott’s leadership and commitment were vital elements in the success of the move.

Environment Award: Sponsored by Warehouse Technology Group - Hörmann UK

Hörmann has been working hard on reducing the environmental impact of loading bays, while meeting the demands of increasingly busy warehouses. This includes working on reducing CO2 emissions across the company’s 16 factories with the use of renewably generated energy, and the installation of combined heat and power plants. Hörmann has also committed to directly connecting its production facilities with renewable power stations, wherever possible, resulting in a 12,000 tonne reduction in the group’s emissions.

Technical Innovations Award: Sponsored by Bito Storage Systems - Linde Material Handling

Linde has launched a new intelligent operator-assist system for reach trucks. This new system - automatically compensates for and minimises mast oscillations and mast deflection, through precise and seamless counter- movements of the reach carriage.

Training Award: Sponsored by RTITB - Elddis Transport

The company’s training programme reflects training needs identified by its customers and Elddis itself. It includes a vast array of subjects and delivery systems, and is a bold investment. That is how Elddis sees training: as an investment, not a cost.

Young Employee of the Year Award: Sponsored by Hoppecke Industrial Batteries - joint winners, Samantha Trubshaw of Cornish Orchards and Joe Jackson of Potter Logistics

This year the judges were challenged to separate four excellent finalists, two of which were outstanding. Jackson was a Graduate, looking for his first job, and he contacted Potter Logistics, asking for any opportunity to show what he could do. Joe impressed everyone so much he was taken on as a trainee planner, thus allowing him to take in every aspect of the department, and he soon became a valuable member of the transport team. In September last year he was offered a permanent position.

Samantha comes from a different working environment. Cornish Orchards is a craft cider and soft drink producer and Sam joined the company aged 20 in November 2012, as part of Cornish Orchards’ Customer Care Team After two years she moved into the export side of the business, and in due course was promoted to Stock and Transport Co-coordinator. Having held this new role since December 2014, Sam now has key responsibilities including delivery planning, transport administration, and stock management.

Customer Service Award: Sponsored by Perry Appleton Group - International Logistics Group

The company’s approach to customer service is simple: close engagement with the customer, good knowledge of the customer’s business, and a determination to deliver the highest services consistently.

Warehouse Company of the Year Award: Sponsored by I.D. Systems (UK) - MDA

Winning this newly introduced award is MDA, a fulfilment partner to Europe’s biggest brands and retailers, distributing complex order profiles for high volume point of sale campaigns, typically for distribution throughout the UK and EMEA region. MDA now operates from four UK fulfilment centres, with a £40m turnover, 400 members of staff and 3 million orders despatched annually.

The Chairman’s Award: Sponsored by Clarion Events and Multimodal - Derrick Potter of Potter Logistics

Derrick Potter, Chairman of Potter Logistics and President of IFWLA (International Federation of Warehousing and Logistics Associations), has always been professional, enthusiastic and willing to work for the betterment of the logistics industry.

Summing up the 16th Annual Awards for Warehousing presentation ceremony and Annual Luncheon, Peter Ward, CEO of UKWA said:“Guests from the logistics industry were clearly inspired by the award winners as well as the rousing keynote address from Lord Digby Jones. It was a marvellous event all round, which also raised almost £3000 for Transaid - once again the charity for the event. UKWA is already looking forward to next year’s event, so keep the first Wednesday of July free in your diary!”

'Train the Kids' is the Message at UKWA Presentations and Annual  Luncheon