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Latest Interviews – Page 4
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ArticleCitySprint grows workforce by one sixth to handle Christmas peak
Sameday delivery specialists CitySprint is recruiting 500 more couriers across the UK to take its fleet off vans, cars and bikes to over 4,000 as Covid-19 means a continuing increase in the number of people shopping online and delivery volumes reach record levels. Mark Footman, chief operating officer at CitySprint, ...
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ArticlePallet-Track CEO: "Sales up but high cost base will hit profits"
Caroline Green joined Pallet-Track as chief financial officer a year ago and replaced Nigel Parkes as chief executive on 1 April. She began her career with Xerox and joined Pallet-Track from e-commerce specialist ReBound Returns, where she was chief operating and finance officer. MT finds out how the new job ...
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Logistics UK chief argues driver shortage is an economic not just a transport problem
On August 22, Logistics UK and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) wrote a joint open letter to Kwasi Kwarteng MP, secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS), to ramp up pressure on the government to take action over the chronic HGV driver shortage.After weeks of negotiations with ...
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ArticlePartners& offers much more than the cheapest price when it comes to insurance and risk management
Photo: ShutterstockFormed in April 2020, Partners& was created by bringing together four quality insurance brokers to offer improved risk management capabilities, insurance broking and employee benefits expertise, to become what it describes itself as a “next generation” insurance adviser.The business is led by CEO Phil Barton, pictured, who has worked ...
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ArticleMicrolise listing on stock market will fund new products to improve operator efficiency
Telematics market leader Microlise became a PLC when it listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange on 22 July. CEO Nadeem Raza tells MT why.The decision to list shares on the stock market is intended to support Microlise's next stage of development, including broadening its ...
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Hellmann Worldwide reaps benefits of restructure and refinancing with return to profitability
After a difficult period in 2016, when Hellmann Worldwide Logistics’ UK operation faced an uncertain future, the business has since been restructured, refinanced and had a new management team installed.The results speak for themselves, and despite making a £1.5m pre-tax loss on UK turnover down 5% to £80m in 2020, ...
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Don’t delay – deadline to meet the DVS is looming
The Direct Vision Standard (DVS) is being introduced by TfL on 1 March after being postponed from its original implementation date of October 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.From March, any HGV over 12 tonnes other than a few exempt specialist vehicles such as mobile cranes must either have a ...
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ArticleSave lives by carrying new low-cost, in-cab defibrillators
Road safety organisation Driver First Assist is planning to roll out low-cost defibrillators to the transport industry and beyond, reports Jack Carfrae.Everyone has seen defibrillators in public. Airports, shopping centres, train stations, outside shops; they sit innocuously on the wall, ignored by all and sundry until they suddenly become vital.The ...
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ArticleCovid and electric vehicles huge opportunities for rejuvenated Fraikin
While Fraikin doesn’t replace its MDs quite as often as West Brom replaces its managers – seven in the last five years – Darren Hall is the third person to take charge of the French-owned contract hire firm since 2016.In the intervening four years Fraikin was subject to an unsuccessful ...
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ArticleGo with the Flow for quality assured online training for all logistics workers
Despite the high proportion of the 2 million people working in UK logistics that are mobile or remote workers, there has been a lack of a coherent and quality assured online training to help their career development. But that is now changing with the launch of Flow.According to research (see ...
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Article"We'll help you save time and avoid big fines" - Sarah Llewelyn, head of Shell Fleet Solutions UK, on why its new tolling solution is vital to hauliers
For fleets transporting goods between the UK and Europe, this year has presented further challenges for drivers. Additional border checks have caused increased traffic, and in April, trucks in Europe saw their waiting times at border crossings increase by 28%, compared to pre-crisis levels.With tight schedules and little margin for ...
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Article"Everything's picking up" - contract wins drive growth at Archbold
Archbold MD Alan MaherThe old saying that you make your own luck could easily have been written for distribution specialist Archbold Logistics.When the pandemic began wreaking havoc on sectors like events, hospitality and construction back in March, MD Alan Maher (pictured) remained confident that his own business could fight off ...
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Article"We've had to right-size the business" – Simon Hobbs on a challenging first 10 months as Kinaxia chief executive
When Simon Hobbs says his induction as new Kinaxia boss wasn't what he expected it sounds like the understatement of the year. Within weeks of taking the reins back in late January, the Covid crisis saw volumes across the group slump by 35% and cash quickly begin to drain.In what ...
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New association gives a voice to UK training providers
The launch of a new independent trade association for vocational transport training providers gives the sector a collective voice for the first time.The Logistics Skills Network (LSN) has been a long time in the making, but the catalyst for its formation came earlier this year, as professional training ground to ...
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Article"B2B carriers have got a problem" - DPD boss Dwain McDonald on surging volumes and the Brexit "car crash"
My interview with DPD chief executive Dwain McDonald coincides neatly with yet another milestone in the parcel carrier’s rapid growth over recent months.“This week we had our eight millionth person download our app in the UK,” he tells me excitedly. “I’ve got more people than Tinder!”He has good reason to ...
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Article"It's a win-win" - Pall-Ex group chief executive Kevin Buchanan on the Fortec deal and how he's set to revolutionise the business
When news broke in June that Pall-Ex was about to take over the Fortec Distribution Network, many saw the move as a major consolidation of the pallet sector.But as the dust settles on the deal, which comes only nine months after the management buyout which saw Pall-Ex founder Hilary Devey ...
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Article"Digital marketplace the new battleground" - Wincanton chief executive reveals future strategy
A lot has happened since I last interviewed Wincanton chief executive James Wroath (pictured) back in January. The upshot being that we’re now chatting from our homes via Zoom rather than sitting in the back office of a Sainsbury’s depot in north London.But as the company shrugs off the impact ...
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ArticleNext invests in warehousing to expand online capacity
Fashion retailer Next has made an art form out of integrating physical retail with its online presence, as its results for the 12 months to 25 January 2020 showed. But even it has not been immune from the impact of Covid-19.Since the early 1990s, Next has operated its own inhouse ...
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Cullimore looking ahead to a brighter future as lockdown starts to ease
Gloucestershire haulier Cullimore Group has seen the vast majority of its work dry up since the Covid-19 lockdown began on March 23, but MD Moreton Cullimore remains optimistic that things can only get better.Recalling going to his Whitminster HQ the day after lockdown Cullimore said: “It was weird seeing 95% ...
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Truck makers see green shoots emerging from Covid-19 darkness
The UK transport industry has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, and continues to face some serious challenges. However, having spoken to the UK MD’s of all eight major truck manufacturers, Commercial Motor editor Will Shiers found positive signs of recovery.Mike Belk, MD, Mercedes-Benz Trucks UK“It certainly hasn’t been ...