National Apprenticeship Week 2020 runs from 3 to 9 February, encouraging parents, teachers, employers and young people to ‘Look Beyond’, celebrating the diversity and value that apprenticeships bring to businesses and communities. Skills specialist Seetec Outsource highlights the opportunities available and importance of apprentices in the logistics industry. Apprentices in the growing logistics industry are playing vital roles in keeping the economy moving by ensuring goods are delivered from around the world to businesses and customers across the UK.
To mark National Apprenticeship Week, skills specialist Seetec Outsource is highlighting the variety of transport and logistics roles – from customer service to warehouse – in which apprentices deliver.
How apprentices get your parcel to you is the title of a short film which highlights apprentices from Northern Ireland to Heathrow Airport working to deliver goods from around the world to customers’ doors. Kyle Lawrence, Import Operator & former apprentice at international freight forwarding company Unsworth explained: “When people ask me what I do within logistics, I tell them that the whole outfit they’re wearing was probably brought into the country by me, from the T-shirt on their back to the nice pair of trainers on their feet.”
A cohort of 20 Heathrow-based apprentices from IAG Cargo are at the heart of the import and export process, breaking up huge cargoes of air freight for distribution around the UK. Apprentice Shakur Duale explained: “I’ve always been fascinated about working at an airport and how they function.
“My current job involves working in a customer service area dealing with arrivals, each air freight consignment comes with a security declaration, like a passport, and the team I work with makes sure all the goods are accounted for and that the freight runs smoothly.
“It’s exciting because we rotate around different areas, including the warehouse, and there are always opportunities for advancement. l hope it leads to a management role in future.”
Marnie Rose from Seetec Outsource said: “The logistics industry is a massive growth area and vital to the UK economy. Apprenticeships help businesses to plan their future workforce to capitalise on the opportunities for growth.”
Miranda Ioannou, Talent & Branding Manager at Unsworth agrees. Miranda said: “Unsworth sees the importance of bringing young people into our business and the wider industry to develop the freight forwarders of the future.
“It’s really important to integrate them and to support and develop them on their journey beyond their apprenticeship into a permanent role. It brings skills and enthusiasm to help build on our culture of innovation and continual improvement.”
Carl Hobbis from the British International Freight Association (BIFA) added: “There’s never been a better time to consider an apprenticeship in transport and logistics.
“Businesses are looking to grow their own talent from within and there’s a whole range of apprenticeships available, right up to degree level.
“Apprentices are working in international businesses, moving goods around the world and making sure they get delivered door to door on time, every time.”
To view Seetec Outsource’s Apprenticeships Deliver film, Click Here
(Photo: Apprentice Shakur Duale, who currently checks freight documentation for IAG Cargo at Heathrow Airport)
