We are delighted to announce that Hemisphere Freight Services (HFS) has been shortlisted for two awards at the BIFA Freight Service Awards 2019, which recognises excellence in the UK freight and logistics industry.
Ocean freight apprentice Jack Reddington will compete for the Apprentice of the Year award, while our projects team have been named a finalist for the Extra Mile Award, in recognition of their work transporting the Strongbow Yard between UK music festivals this summer.
Apprentice of the Year
Jack has made a great impression since joining HFS on our new Ocean Freight apprenticeship in September 2018. His enthusiasm and willingness to learn saw him excel within our exports department, so much so that he was asked to provide emergency cover for our fast-paced recyclables team. Jack will be joining our import operations team for the next stage of his apprenticeship training, as he looks to attain his customs qualification.
Such is Jack’s passion for the industry, he was appointed as vice chair for the East Anglia Young Forwarder Network (YFN) group earlier this year. The role will see him working closely with BIFA to organise events for other aspiring young freight forwarders in the region.
Beyond his day-to-day work, Jack has been at the forefront of raising money and organising charity events including quiz and curry nights, as well as participating in the annual Strictly Come Dancing fundraiser for Inspire Suffolk, Hemisphere’s chosen charity.
“Jack has been a breath of fresh air for HFS,” said Louis Perrin, Director of Hemisphere. “He is very likeable, keen to learn, and motivated to continuously take on new challenges and better himself. We thought having an apprentice would be quite time-consuming, but Jack contributes massively to our team and has made us very passionate about bringing more apprentices into our company and the industry.”
Jack will now be preparing a presentation about his apprenticeship and the future of international freight forwarding, which he will present to judges on Thursday, 14th November.
Extra Mile Award
Having been shortlisted for BIFA awards in both 2018 and 2017, we are hoping it will be third time lucky for our projects team this time around. It would also round off another successful year for the team, after it picked up the Best European Project Partner award at the WCA Projects Annual Conference for the second year running.
The team’s last-minute assistance in transporting the Strongbow Yard to three music festivals was testament to both their expertise and “anything is possible” ethos. With the client’s usual haulier telling them it couldn’t fulfil the project just two weeks before the first festival, our team jumped at the opportunity to assist. Much to the client’s relief, we ensured Strongbow’s iconic archer didn’t go missing in action.
“To be shortlisted for another BIFA award is very humbling and a credit to the team’s exceptional work in getting this time-critical project over the line,” said Dan Leach, Project Team Manager at HFS. “We are now looking forward to the ceremony in January, which will hopefully be a successful one!’
The BIFA Freight Service Awards ceremony will take place in London on Thursday, 16th January, 2020. Make sure to keep an eye on the HFS blog in case we win an award and to stay up to date with all the latest industry developments.
