Round table focuses on wages hike

THIS WAS a topic debated at the first Logistics Round Table organised by Chris Wright of ASC Staffing Solutions, chaired by UKWA chief executive Clare Bottle and hosted by 3PL operator Europa Warehouse.

Logistics will be significantly impacted by the national living wage increase, which will rise from £10.42 to £11.44 an hour on 1 April.  Changes will also apply to the national living wage rates for those aged 21 or 22, and also for younger employees aged 16-20.

The first Round Table brought together leading industry voices to have open discussions around the biggest issues affecting the sector, such as the impending changes in April.

Chris Wright explains: “With logistics impacted by increased costs as well as these wage increases the coming 12 months is hard to predict. Our customers are looking at a range of different strategies to navigate increased costs whilst maintaining competitiveness. 

“At the Round Table it was interesting to hear how across the sector operators are looking at strategies, creating more streamlined and efficient operations to tackle economic challenges head on.”

Dionne Redpath, chief operating officer and head of the warehouse division for Europa Worldwide Group, adds: “At Europa, it’s not just about pay, it’s about creating the right culture and values in an organisation and the best environment to retain the best talent and enable them to flourish. It’s a competitive jobs market.

“Yes, these wage increases will affect us, but we are continually focused on being innovative, streamlining our operations, improving efficiencies and ultimately the service we provide for our customers.

“We run focus groups and surveys to make sure that we are listening to our team, we provide a lot of support to people working in the environment – employee engagement programmes and ensure we make the environment as fun and engaging as possible.   It’s a balance, employees can still choose where they want to work, and we have to do everything we can to attract them.”

Attracting talent
As well as looking at increasing staffing costs the team discussed attracting new talent to the logistics industry. 
Phil Courtney from Manual Distribution Network, part of the John Lewis Partnership says: “Creating the right environment is as important as salaries. It’s about showing people that if they work in logistics that it is about their life rather than just a job. We’re a co-owned business and so our partners can decide what we invest in.”

Attracting young talent into logistics is something which is being addressed by the Generation Logistics Campaign, among othert initiatives.
Charlotte Patrick, founder of the Northamptonshire Logistic Awards adds: “We need to open up the doors more on our industry – it’s largely a hidden industry and that’s the bit that we need to bring to life.”

The Round Table is on LinkedIn Live Wednesday 27 March at 12.30pm   https://www.linkedin.com/events/thelogisticsroundtable7178061921143652352/theater/

Participants in the event included:
Phil Courtney, General Manager at Manual Distribution Network (part of John Lewis Partnership)
Charlotte Patrick, Founder of Northamptonshire Logistics Awards
Dionne Redpath COO of Europa Worldwide
Darren Twiselton, Head of Managed Services at Zig Zag
Chaired by UKWA chief executive Clare Bottle