How long have you worked in the sector?

Despite entering the world of transport almost by chance, I have now remained in the industry for over 40 years. The industry kind of gets under your skin.

What does the word ‘logistics’ mean to you?

Where would we be without logistics? The process of organising the movement of goods from one location to another, often incorporating manufacture, to delivery, to installation. The economy would come to a complete standstill without logistics.

What makes the logistics industry such a great place to work?

For me it is the people that makes our industry such a vibrant and exciting place to work. No day is the same – there’s always a different challenge.  The industry and its people however are resilient, with a real work hard, play hard ethos.

What can we do to encourage young people to work in logistics?

It is such a shame that the greatness of our dynamic highly-IT-driven industry is always masked by bad press creating poor perception. Our industry and its role models need to shout about the great things we do. The media needs to promote our industry as essential workers, not only when there is a pandemic, ferry strike, driver shortage or other crisis. Government needs to commit to creating more secure and safe parking with facilities offering nourishing food, washing facilities, and logistics needs to included on the curriculum in schools.

What breadth of roles does your company offer?

Freightlink Europe offers a wide range of roles, from drivers, transport planners, customer service, HR, health and safety, fork truck drivers, accounts, credit control, insurance… The list and career options are endless – I started off as a PA. It’s hard to believe that I now have my own transport company.

What does National Lorry Week mean to you?

Of course, I encourage us to fly the flag for loving the lorry every day and week of the year, but this campaign is a great opportunity for our industry to unite in appreciation of our drivers, promoting our industry and educating the public about what our industry does – I guess this has never more been more apparent than during the driver shortage.

Why people should get involved?

If we want to change perception, educate the public and raise awareness of what our industry does, then we all need to become role models and to actively get involved in promoting our industry. If not, we cannot complain if nothing changes.