Spotlight on a Policy Manager

I joined Logistics UK at the start of September as Head of Skills Policy and Generation Logistics.

Generation Logistics is a careers awareness campaign that works to inspire young people and their educators to consider careers in logistics, giving them the information that they need to make those informed choices.

Between 10 August 2022 and 31 August 2024, the Generation Logistics campaign has created a reach of over 1.47 billion and has increased positive sentiment about logistics in 18-24 year olds by 170%.

It has been amazing to see the campaign grow as it now enters its third year, adding a focus on primary education and covering ten year groups from 7 year olds to 18 year olds. Furthermore, the campaign continues to deliver award-winning campaigns that focus on the sector’s shortage areas, now and in the future, and showcasing those real people doing real jobs with real passion that we need more of.

On the policy side, my role is to shape and guide Logistics UK’s policy on skills, reflecting our members’ needs and shaping and guiding relevant government policy.

With the recent change in government, one of the main changes made so far is the announcement that the Apprenticeship Levy is being changed to the Growth and Skills Levy – which is great news for our sector. By nature, using the Levy will become more flexible and mean shorter courses, which really lend themselves to the logistics sector.

We know there are a lot of skills shortages and gaps that are not able suitable to be taught in a 12-month apprenticeship, so this is a hugely positive change in terms of future focus for us and we will work to ensure that logistics is well-represented in future Levy-funded course options. In terms of other focuses, we are also raising awareness about the skills that are needed to deliver net zero, for example vehicle technicians and mechanics for alternative fuel vehicles, ensuring that the sector has the skills needed to maximise the potential benefit of automation and AI, and encouraging a focus on skills for innovation.

In addition, it is important to raise awareness about the need for softer skills, too. For example, whilst we know a career pathway in logistics presents many opportunities for employees to progress, often skills like leadership and management can be overlooked as operations get busier and workloads larger. Therefore, it is imperative that soft skills are also addressed to ensure employees are equipped with the right skills they need to deliver for businesses and for the economy. In short, across skills policy, we focus on attraction, recruitment and retention, whilst also making sure we support our members with upskilling and rescaling.

Before joining, I was a primary school teacher, before a somewhat unusual move into supply chain software, and then most recently I was at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT(UK)) as Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Management.

There, I managed the Novus programme, which works to get students that have already chosen logistics at university, into work. Novus brings the applied side of education to life: placements, mentoring, guest, lecture site visits and more. When the Generation Logistics campaign came to life, I managed it on behalf of CILT(UK), and it is something I have now bought with me to my current role and will continue to champion.

I am passionate about making sure that people have the information that they need to make good choices – and, ideally, that those choices are logistics! - and so marrying all my other roles and experiences together, skills policy is a wonderful opportunity.

Looking forward, we will be reinvigorating the Skills Working Group, which will give members the opportunity to share their experiences and channel their views to help shape our policy positions around skills.

It will also be used to react to consultations that arise and ensure that we can respond on behalf of all modes and represent the entire sector.

One size does not fit all when it comes to skills, and so it is important to have a range of different organisations involved in the discussion.

As I mentioned earlier, we started year three of Generation Logistics at the start of October. One of our key aims is to help young people have the required knowledge they need to make informed career choices and, by considering sponsorship of Generation Logistics, you will be helping us to do just that.

Being new to the role, my ask for members is to reach out and let me know if you are interested in talking all things skills policy. I want to understand how we can best represent you and your views when influencing government and engaging with stakeholders to ensure we secure the skills pipeline our sector needs to continue to grow.

Published On: 17/10/2024 15:00:00

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