Chennai

<strong>Metro expand further in India</strong>

Jan 5, 2023 | ,

With an expanding team of 50+ colleagues, led by UK trained ‘super-users’, Metro have taken possession of a newly commissioned premises in Chennai, after a traditional Puja ritual to spiritually celebrate the office opening and launch of our new Indian entity, M-ISC Shared Service Centre Private Limited.

Metro has been managing and transforming industrial, manufacturing and automotive supply chains since 1982. By taking responsibility for their supply chains and documentary requirements, outsource clients are free to concentrate on growing their business, producing products and opening new markets.

Our documentation and process outsourcing solutions are entirely bespoke for each client, and designed to optimise documentation, streamline processes and introduce digital efficiencies. To scale capability and provide 24/7 coverage, Metro launched its inaugural international business process outsource (BPO) operations in 1998.

In 2018, following the EU exit referendum and with the massive increase in customs declarations that Brexit would create (estimated at >400million p.a.) an additional outsource operation was launched in India, to support the original Malaysia-based team.

The combined business process and outsource (BPO) functions in India, Malaysia and UK has grown consistently and processes millions of individual tasks annually, to expedite the global transport and border clearance of 1000’s of individual consignments. In addition the process optimisation created through the ‘back office’ function ensure we are slicker, competitive and have full coverage across all continents, regardless of the time of day.

The launch of M-ISC Shared Service Centre Private Limited and the move of their team of 50+ into the larger and plusher office facilities in Chennai, after the inclusive Puja ritual (see pictures below) will support further growth and increase resources in India.

For two months, at the end of last year, we had the pleasure of hosting six M-ISC colleagues at our UKHQ in Birmingham for extensive ‘Super-User’ training. Spending time with colleagues and departments across Eclipse House, they have gained unique insights, technical knowledge and operational experience, that will be invaluable when they are training their own colleagues in Chennai.

We look forward to further knowledge-sharing and the further expansion and integration into the global Metro team, with regular colleague learning and experience exchanges to India and the UK on a continual and regular basis.

This is just one of many developments in the first quarter of 2023, which will add value and greater depth to the Metro solution. Many more announcements to come in coming weeks and months – stay alert!

For further information please contact Paul Moss or Andrew White, who leads our UKHQ based BPO team or Simon George who will be delighted to explain how our technical solutions streamline/standardise/digitise complex processes.

Grant Liddell left Arturo Marte right

<strong>Air France and KLM sign inaugural environmental deal with Metro</strong>

Jan 5, 2023 | , ,

Metro is the first of the airlines’ customers in the United Kingdom to invest in their joint, innovative Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) programme, confirming our shared ambition to contribute to the development of reduced greenhouse gases within the aviation logistics sector. 

(Pictured above are Grant Liddell (left), Metro's managing director and Arturo Marte (right), cargo director, Air France KLM Martinair Cargo.jpg

Metro has already made its head office operations carbon-neutral and is committed to extending this zero-emission strategy as far down customers’ supply chains as possible, which is why we have become the first forwarder to join the Air France KLM Martinair Cargo (AFKLMP Cargo) SAF programme and invest in sustainable aviation fuel.

IATA member airlines and the wider aviation freight industry are collectively committed to making flying net zero by 2050 and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which was first flown on a commercial flight by KLM in 2011, and has been identified as one of the key elements in helping achieve this goal.

Aviation biofuels are produced from plant sources, waste oils, solid biomass, or from synthetic biology and can lower CO2 emissions by up to 98% compared to conventional jet fuel.

Arturo Marte, cargo director, Air France KLM Martinair Cargo said. “I’m pleased to welcome Metro as our first UK customer to join our Sustainable Aviation Programme and helping us raise awareness in our industry.”

Grant Liddell, Metro’s managing director. "We are proud to be partnered with Air France KLM Martinair Cargo and take this collaborative approach directly with the airline.”

“Air France and KLM have been pioneering SAF since 2009, but it is still a pioneering technology and Metro’s participation in the AFKLMP programme will help fund the research and development, which can increase production and make SAF available in greater quantities and in more locations.”

“Although it is currently early in the switch to full SAF on cargo flights, this will gather pace over the coming years, and we are already promoting the benefit in greenhouse gas reductions to our customers that are using time-critical modes across the industry." 

The signing ceremony took place at Metro’s head office in Birmingham, with officials from both companies attending, including Arturo Marte, cargo director for the United Kingdom & Ireland at Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, and Grant Liddell, managing director of Metro. 

The same toolkit we use to measure, reporting and offset our emissions, to achieve carbon neutrality, is available ‘free of charge’ to our customers.

Part of our MVT supply chain platform, the ECO module monitors the energy emissions, emission costs and CO2 equivalent emissions, of customers’ consignments, by every mode. 

Reports and key eco statistics related to their movements, allow them to see which areas will benefit most from emissions offsetting and where efforts can have the most impact.

To request a demo or discuss your requirements, please contact Simon George, who can outline our proven carbon reduction strategies and the availability of offset projects.

Alpaca

<strong>Metro proud to be supporting children in need</strong>

Nov 30, 2022 |

The last couple of years have been incredibly hard for children and young people. Living through COVID has caused feelings of anxiety, fear and hopelessness in many children; and the cost of living crisis is now pushing even more families into hardship, which is making fundraising for the BBC’s Children in Need more important than ever.

Children in Need fund the grassroots organisations and project workers that provide the vital relationships children need to help them navigate challenges in their lives; supporting, inspiring and championing them to ensure they have opportunities to reach their goals.

The Children in Need SPOTacular appeal inspires communities to come together every November, to raise funds and show support. And once again Metro continues to actively participate. 

Children in Need support thousands of charities and projects in every corner of the UK, that support children and young people to feel and be safer, have improved mental health and wellbeing. 

Good mental health and wellbeing is important for everyone and it is increasingly common to see ‘therapy animals’ being brought into the corporate workplace, where they make employees feel less stressed and more productive.

Eclipse House, our global HQ, recently welcomed a trio of very unusual visitors, who spread plenty of goodwill, cheered up the Metro team members that came out to greet them and boosted our fund-raising efforts.

The alpaca is a species of South American mammal, that is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are noticeably smaller than llamas and these friendly, inquisitive animals are considered very therapeutic, charming everyone with their gentle nature and big enthralling eyes. Much like the Metro team that take care of your global freight movements 🙂

You can donate HERE

Eclipse House 1

<strong>Metro’s unique selling proposition – there’s a lot of them!</strong>

Nov 29, 2022 |

In crowded markets companies can start to look the same, but in these cluttered conditions, those that identify their unique selling proposition (USP) have the opportunity to be different - to differentiate - and stand out from the pack.

International transport is often perceived to be a commodity and freight forwarders may appear to be the same, or offering the same product. Without differentiation, prospective, and sometimes current, customers don’t know how they differ, what their services really are and which one is right for them. 

Being clear about our differentiating factors and unique selling propositions helps customers understand what we do well and the choices most relevant to them. 

An audit of the Metro business identified 135 differentiating and expertise factors across a total of 30 categories, covering everything from our new automotive department to artificial intelligence.

Metro is a big business, with a wide range of services, verticals, technology, business units, customer service, resources and social governance, so it is unsurprising that the audit should uncover so many strengths. We don’t just move freight, but have a plethora of other platforms, services and solutions that add value throughout supply chains and quite often beyond.

The ‘long list’ of differentiating factors will be invaluable when communicating the capability and benefits of specific Metro features, but it’s real value will be realised by distilling it down to Metro’s ‘core USPs’ - the values that match our customers’ priorities, needs and wants.

This distillation of core values and USPs will demonstrate how Metro stand apart from our competitors - our positioning - ensure that our branding still reflects those characteristics and provide the foundation for our marketing and messaging.

You can download and review our ‘long list’ of differentiating factors by clicking HERE. We recommend that you do - it could be enlightening.

We would welcome and invite your comments on the differentiating factors, which matter most and why, (do any not matter?) and just as importantly any factors that we may have missed – please EMAIL our managing director, Grant Liddell, or any of your team to discuss further. We are keen to share and provide more to you in the future.

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