PD Ports and DSV Road Limited back apprentice and graduate schemes, 9th May 2012

News Release PD Ports, Harbour Office Tees Dock (Port Operations Centre) May 11, 2012

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London, 9 May 2012 - Two of the UK’s leading logistics
companies have backed apprentice,
graduate and back to work schemes to help solve the expected
shortfall in future logistics
employees.
David Wilson, HR Development Manager, PD Ports, and Chris Malyon,
Director of Sales and
Marketing, DSV Road Limited, on 2 May told attendees at a
Multimodal Exhibition seminar
on staff recruitment and retention that the training and
recruitment schemes they had
implemented over the past few years had proved a huge success.
Mr Malyon explained DSV had launched a graduate recruitment
programme and an
apprentice scheme to help recruit young and enthusiastic members
of staff.
Last August, the company took on 12 university graduates – 10 in
DSV Road Limited and
two in DSV Solutions Limited – for its sales teams and since
February last year it has
recruited 24 apprentices for a variety of roles, from customer
service to warehouse
operatives.
Both the apprentices and graduates attend training programmes,
with apprentices leaving
with an NVQ qualification, and to date, all 12 of the graduates
are still working at DSV, while
18 of the apprentices are still at DSV and four have been placed
in full time positions.
Mr Malyon said: “It’s maybe too early in the process to say we
would only recruit graduates
in the future, but it would certainly take a lot of consideration
to recruit anyone other than
graduates into sales positions for DSV Road Limited in the
UK.”
He added: “Meanwhile, the apprentices are highly motivated and
well trained individuals.
Also, we have the benefit of gaining members of staff that will
seize the opportunity to train
and move up through the organisation. So there are certainly a lot
of benefits to these types
of scheme.”
Mr Wilson said PD Ports had created a two year foundation degree
specific to the ports
industry and its business in particular to help secure its
workforce of tomorrow. So far, 30
people had participated in the scheme, which involves external
lectures, work placement and
internal training.
The North East UK ports and logistics company had also created a
dock operator apprentice
scheme in conjunction with local organisations which prepares the
unemployed for work and,
if they successfully complete an interview, take part in an 18
month apprentice scheme at
PD Ports.
Mr Wilson said: “Our dock operator apprentice programme was
specifically designed to offer
job opportunities to those who are long term unemployed or who
have never worked.
“Teesside has one of the highest levels of unemployment in the
country and some people
join the scheme from families that are third generation
unemployed. As a consequence, the
company wanted to offer these people an opportunity before they
became part of the lost
generation.”
Both Mr Malyon and Mr Wilson agreed that staff training was also
important, as it helped to
increase retention of staff by creating progression within the
organisations. It also proved to
customers that both companies took customer service seriously.
Both companies had recently set up hugely successful training
programmes – DSV Road
Limited has run a Sales Academy, while PD Ports has set up a
health and safety passport
scheme and a dock operator NVQ Level 2 programme.
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