Going up in the world of logistics – the opportunity for your logistics career to take off.

Solihull businesses, in conjunction with Solihull Council, are pulling together to inspire young people about the exciting and rewarding career opportunities in the global world of logistics and supply chains.

It is well known that few young people see logistics and supply chain as their first-choice career.  When coupled with the fact that the average age of a logistician is thirty-eight, it’s clear to see a skills shortage is looming for the sector in the very near future.

Solihull Council is working with local companies and schools in an effort to help rectify the problem. An event has been organised to showcase the world of logistics for over 70 school pupils from Key Stage 2 through to Key Stage 5. This event forms part of a wider programme of activities for young people in Solihull under the umbrella ‘Life Ready*.

The event, ‘Business on the Move*’, is sponsored by Proteus Software, a Sanderson Group Company, and supported by the United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA). It takes place on Tuesday 19^th July in The Learning Hub at Birmingham Airport with the support of John Lewis, ZF Lemforder, Royal Bank of Scotland, and ProLogis.

Teams of pupils will compete against each other by playing Business on the Move, an educational board game designed to enable young people to learn about logistics and global supply chains while demonstrating the skills needed in today’s business world.

By playing the game pupils learn how supply chains work from the point of order to end-user delivery, making business choices and solving business problems along the way.   The most profitable business at the end of the game will be the winner.  Every participating school will be given a set of games so that they can continue to enjoy playing the game and learning in a classroom environment, these have been generously donated by ProLogis.

The young people will also hear about logistics from business leaders who will be involved in the game on each table. Linda Rodway of Proteus Software remarked, “Most people working in logistics will tell you that it is something that they fell into, rather than chose to do.  Once in the industry however people tend to stay, saying that it is the best thing that they ever have done.  The choice of career is wide ranging, covering all aspects of the Logistics and Supply Chain Industry from Fork Lift truck drivers to Consultants, Warehouse pickers to Operations Directors, HGV drivers to Marketing Managers.”

Peter Ward, UKWA CEO, will open the event with a talk about what it means to be involved in the world of logistics. The pupils will also hear from Mike Daly, non- executive director of Clipper Logistics who will share his fascinating logistics life story from “Rags to Riches “, and from Haydn Sandvig of Logistics Learning Alliance who will tell them about his interesting role in humanitarian logistics.

Proteus Software UK Sales Leader Chris Warren expressed his delight that there is so much interest in the event by local schools and businesses.  Chris said, “We are very pleased to be able to make a contribution towards the enlightenment of youngsters regarding the Logistics and Supply Chain field.  We are positive that this event will encourage some children into a career that they may not have considered before; from my experience a career that can prove both very interesting and rewarding.”