The world’s leading freight and logistics online news service is launching Logistics Day: a celebration of an industry that has become the backbone of the global economy.
IFW approached leading figures in the industry for their comments on why it was important to recognise not only the importance of logistics but also the people driving the sector.
Here’s what Global Freight’s managing director Nicole Howarth, 35, told IFW:
“Logistics make the world go round. The logistics industry underpins the world economy, and that’s not an exaggeration. The globalisation of the world economy requires goods to be moved in even greater volumes and the industry is doing well at responding to that.
“Global Freight is an award-winning company, an accolade we won because of our work as a small business helping other companies to import and export and that’s because I believe international trade will not only get the UK economy back on its feet but ultimately ensure a more robust worldwide recovery.
“The logistics industry will be at the core of this – it is as important today as it was in 1913 when the father of containerisation, Malcolm Purcell McLean, was born. More than 50 years after McLean developed the first metal shipping container and revolutionised the transport of goods and cargo worldwide, the industry is still the engine which keeps the economy running.
“Without the logistics industry, there would be no growth, no expansion. It provides for everything from materials to build our cities to the food on our plate. But this movement of goods is no achieved without the people behind it.
“Just as McLean was an innovator, the industry has to look at new ways of doing things and that includes fostering talent, leadership and management. I began by volunteering my services to Danzas, free of charge for two days a week, to learn the industry from the inside. After passing ACOT and gaining my Diploma in Export Management I moved into a paid position before setting up Global Freight 18 months later.
“Clearly in the last 15 years the industry has moved on and the opportunities for talent to progress and systems for professional development have improved. It is the innovators, owners and directors of companies in the sector who can drive this forward, so that the logistics industry is not only a lynchpin of the global economy but is at the forefront of its recovery.
“We’re delighted that Logistics Day has been launched to recognise not only an industry which is so vital to every other commercial and industrial sector in the global marketplace but also the people which keep the engine running.”
Nicole is the managing director of award-winning Global Freight, a Midlands-based shipping company working with a variety of clients from established household names and to SMEs just beginning to trade internationally.
Nicole launched Global Freight at the age of 21 recognising that logistics was an industry which would always be going places. She now runs a multi-million turnover company and was recently named as one of the top three female directors in the industry.
