4) Perry Watts

Title: CEO, DHL Supply Chain UK and Ireland

With a turnover of pretty much £4.3bn in 2014 DHL Supply Chain is the biggest beast in logistics in the UK by some considerable distance (and is bigger than Wincanton, XPO Logistics and Kuehne + Nagel in the UK combined).

At the top is Perry Watts, who has – in the words of Deutsche Post - responsibility for business strategy, execution and growth of the Supply Chain business. Deliver growth? Under his stewardship DHL Supply Chain in the UK added close to £300m of addition turnover between 2013 and 2014. There are not many operators in the UK that can claim to have a turnover of £300m annually, let alone add business of that size to its existing portfolio. This year DHL Supply Chain has signed a two year extension to its £1bn contract with the NHS; it took Morrisons My Local work from Wincanton; it extended its 25 year contract with Mothercare for a further five years – and that’s just three off the bat. Watts may be press shy, but he’s been winning big business for DHL Supply Chain (and Exel, and Tibbett & Britten before that…) for years, carrying on the legacy left by John Harvey.

  • Every day over Christmas and the New Year we will be counting down the Motor Transport Power Players from 20 to one, so come back tomorrow at 9am to see who is next in our countdown. As ever, we'd welcome your feedback and input into the debate. Send us your thoughts on Twitter @Motor_Transport using #MTPowerPlayers

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