Metro has been officially certified as a Great Place to Work, in an accreditation that recognises our commitment to create an outstanding, rewarding workplace, with a strong focus on building a positive culture and supporting individuals.

Great Place To Work (GPTW) Certification recognises employers who create an outstanding employee experience and is dependent on the successful completion of a two-step process that includes surveying employees and an audit of their workplace.

Anonymous employee feedback, independent auditing and expert analysis determine the certification outcome which, if successful helps job seekers identify an employer that genuinely offers a great company to work for.

The Great Place to Work team applies data from thousands of organisations to gain deeper insights, with targeted feedback and benchmarking to encourage continuous improvement. 

We wanted to see how we compared to industry peers and other businesses, but also to listen to where we can improve, so that we can be the ’employer of choice’ for the next generation of logistics and supply chain professionals.

Going through the GPTW certification provides a comprehensive measure of employee engagement, trust, wellbeing, HR and management practices, with Metro’s combined scorecard 40% above the threshold required to become Great Place to Work certified.

Metro’s Managing Director, Grant Liddell said “This is another important milestone in Metro becoming the employer of choice in our industry and I am personally delighted to know that my colleagues enjoy our work culture, feel safe, valued and treated fairly.” 

“I know that Metro is a great company to work for and this certification will attract new talent to share that experience, because it gives our HR team a recruiting advantage. They can demonstrate a globally recognised and research-backed verification of positive employee experiences that define a Great Place To Work.”

If you, or someone you know, would like to work with a progressive colleague-focused business, please EMAIL Paul Moss a CV, with covering letter.

An initiative by members of the logistics sector, trade associations and the Department for Transport (DfT), Generation Logistics launched this summer aims to build on the sector’s pandemic-linked profile boost and tackle the industry’s long-term recruitment issues. 

Logistics providers played a critical role throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering PPE, maintaining the global flow of essential goods and providing essential services – as key workers – during this most challenging time in our history.

By raising awareness of an industry often overlooked by those seeking employment, Generation Logistics will highlight the accessibility of those opportunities across all ages, locations and educational backgrounds.

Despite the sector’s high profile during the pandemic and employing over 2.6m people, the campaign’s research shows that 90% of the country has never considered a career in logistics.

The DfT has put £345,000 into the campaign which will be based on a new web portal carrying careers advice as well as job vacancies and will focus on demographic areas deemed to be “inclined towards taking up a role in logistics”.

Industry supporters have contributed an additional £350,000 and the campaign is backed by 24 private sector sponsors and 15 trade bodies including the RHA.

A particular focus for the campaign will be positively changing perceptions currently surrounding the logistics sector and – as a priority – addressing the shortage of skilled staff in roles like technicians, mechanics, warehouse staff and in new technology such as robotics and automation.

Generation Logistics is aimed at 16 to 24 year olds wanting to join the industry at any level from entry to degree, by showcasing the different career opportunities and roles that are available in the logistics sector. 

One barrier to recruiting and training new talent for the industry has been a lack of suitable apprenticeships, but the logistics industry has now paid £700m into the Apprenticeship Levy and drawn out just £150m. Generation Logistics is a way of bringing more people into the industry.

The Department for Education (DfE) has also allocated £34m to fund skills bootcamps for HGV driving, though there have been fears that money might be being wasted due to DVSA bottlenecks in HGV driving tests.

Using a host of media tactics, and with a comprehensive information and recruitment hub hosted online, Generation Logistics is set to challenge perceptions about the opportunities which the industry provides.

Backed by businesses and trade associations from across the sector, supported by funding from the Department of Transport, the campaign is set to raise awareness of the roles available with groups that are currently under-represented in the industry, including those returning to work after a career break or those hoping to switch roles to a longer term career.

To help raise awareness the campaign is engaging multiple social media channels, including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok – search @GenerationLogistics or visit the hub at www.generationlogistics.org.

We are committed to attracting and developing the careers of the next generation of forwarding professionals. 

Our training team helped design the 1st International Freight Forwarding Specialist Apprenticeship and now operate one of the most established apprenticeship programmes in our sector.

Working directly with universities, we offer comprehensive undergraduate placements, for students to experience the world of freight forwarding and join an expanding pool of potential post-graduate recruits.

We maintain personal development plans for all our personnel, to reach their potential and our Training & Career Development Manager, Colin Smith, leads the regional Young Forwarder Network for BIFA.

The British International Freight Association (BIFA) the freight forwarding trade association is launching a campaign to encourage schools to promote careers in logistics, forwarding and the supply chain, and Metro is helping them, with public-speaking support at Multimodal.

The COVID pandemic has highlighted the importance of supply chains and the role of the freight forwarder in maintaining the flow of products and with schools returning for a new academic year, BIFA has committed to promoting careers within the freight and logistics sector to students.

Carl Hobbis, BIFA executive director and training development manager, says: “Since the Brexit vote and the onset of the Covid pandemic, global supply chains have been in the news more than ever, so what a great time to encourage someone to consider a career in the international freight sector that manages those supply chains.”

Apprenticeships are certainly something that a lot of students are considering, rather than taking on the debt associated with a degree, and there is a specific apprenticeship standard for International Freight Forwarding, that Metro helped BIFA in establishing over three years.

Metro apprentices complete the International Freight Forwarding Specialist Apprenticeship (IFFS) over 18 months, in an immersive, on-the-job, learning experience, that covers the complexities of air, sea and surface freight.

At higher education Metro engages directly with regional universities to introduce the logistics and supply chain sector to undergraduates, with the opportunity to experience a wide range of tasks and responsibilities, during a placement year.

At the forthcoming industry expo, Multimodal, which takes place at the NEC from the 19th to 21st October, Colin Smith, Metro’s Training & Career Development Manager will join a panel discussion with BIFA’s Carl Hobbis, to consider ’How to implement an effective apprenticeship scheme’. (SEE BELOW)

Colin commented. “It is really gratifying to see how our apprentices have progressed within the business and flourished professionally, since joining Metro with no prior knowledge. 

The International Freight Forwarding Apprenticeship course provides a really solid foundation for their career and encourages them to learn more, whilst retaining a focus on core capabilities.”

“My most pressing challenge is finding the next apprentice, the next undergraduate and the next cohort of graduates, by re-engaging  with local universities, colleges and schools, that took such a hit at the start of the pandemic.”

We are actively seeking new apprentices and are recruiting in other more experienced roles. If you, or someone you know, would enjoy working with a progressive colleague-focused business, please send us a CV, with covering letter to cv@metroshipping.co.uk

How to implement an effective apprenticeship scheme
MULTIMODAL 2021
21st October 10.30-11.30 – PORT OF TYNE THEATRE
Carl Hobbis BIFA (Chair)
Colin Smith, Metro Shipping
Marnie Rose, Seetec Outsource Training & Skills
Click HERE to register for Multimodal and join the event

For a fulfilling career with many opportunities please contact Colin and we will consider your application and respond to you immediately. As we continue to expand as a business one of our key priorities is to encourage new people to join Metro and our industry, providing a consistent and reliable career path for all our colleagues.

Driven by the negative impact of COVID-19, the number of payroll employees has fallen by 726,000 in a year across the UK, and vacancies were down by nearly 60%, with many graduates losing their work placement opportunities or job offer – But not at Metro!

University and life after graduation should be filled with rewarding work-placements and exciting job offers, but for current students and graduates, the reality has been far more uncertain.

Many of those who had secured a work placement or received a job offer have seen them withdrawn or deferred as the coronavirus pandemic has caused significant economic disruption.  

The effects of COVID-19 on graduate recruitment is put into stark detail, by this survey of 1,200 final-year university students:

• 26% lost their work placement
• 29% lost their job
• 28% had their job offer deferred or cancelled

For graduates, these job offers represented a return on their investment in higher education and, for some, would pave the way to their future career.

The fact that 65% of surveyed students now feel negative about their job prospects signifies the effect the pandemic is having on their future and highlights why we continue to work proactively with university careers teams and communicate directly with students, to dispel the notion that employers are not hiring.

There is no denying the impact the COVID pandemic had on the economy, with unprecedented redundancies and staff furloughs. While many sectors remain closed or are facing other challenges, Metro has been stretched to the limit, helping customers meet the twin supply chain demands of Brexit and the pandemic.

Shippers, including some of the UK’s biggest brands and manufacturers, rely on Metro to keep their EU/UK supply chains running smoothly.  

Blue-chip customers, some of whom have never had to create an export or import customs declaration, are faced with the sudden need to complete them by the thousands.

Added to that, as news of Metro’s unmatched investment in post-Brexit technology and resources spread, significant new business has been added, which means we had to grow our team to keep up with demand.

Since Lockdown1, we have increased our graduate intake massively from degree disciplines including Geography, Accounting & Finance, Economics, Law, American Studies, Biomedical Science plus Business Management variations including Modern Languages, from Universities in the US, Europe and across the UK. 

Included in this cohort, we are pleased to welcome back two graduates, who earlier completed their work-placement with Metro and one of our most recent under-graduate placements, taking on a part-time position, running alongside her university studies.

Following their challenging (COVID-safe) induction, these graduates are learning new skills, developing new competencies and best practice working habits across all functional departments, importing and exporting cargo, by all modes, for Metro’s customers.

Metro is committed to invest, not just in the payroll sense but also in providing the training and support these young, enthusiastic and energetic people need to prepare them for a career as professional freight forwarders. If you are interested or know someone interested in a breathtakingly dynamic role within the logistics industry, then please provide a CV to Paul Moss, Head of HR, as we continue to increase and grow our business and therefore continue to recruit, train and mentor new members to the team – we still have many vacancies and opportunities for career hungry and ambitious candidates!