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1st May

UKWA and SfL agree to work together to develop the skills of the warehousing sector

UKWA and Skills for Logistics (SfL), the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the freight logistics industries, have reached a formal agreement to work together on the development of a series of nationally recognised qualifications for the logistics industry.

The organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which outlines ways in which the two parties will co-operate on a series of joint activities that will lead to the development of long term sustainable initiatives that reflect and address the changing skills development needs of the sector.

Dr Mick Jackson, chief executive officer, of Skills for Logistics, commented: “Now more than ever it is important that organisations in the warehousing supply chain acknowledge the importance of up skilling their workforces in order to maintain a competitive edge through difficult economic times.

“Skills for Logistics has developed qualifications and training programmes that the sector can tap into in order to benefit their business’ bottom line. However, we are keen to do more to ensure that solutions offered to the industry are relevant and tailored to meet specific business needs. We are confident that we can, through the signing of the MOU and by working closely with UKWA, produce highly relevant qualifications and programmes across the warehousing sector."

Roger Williams, chief executive officer UKWA, said: “Despite much of the excellent work undertaken by Skills for Logistics in recent years, there remains a gap between the needs of warehouse operatives and managers and the current training and qualifications available from existing training providers.

“UKWA has been looking for some time to take a lead in addressing this situation and is delighted to partner Skills for Logistics in developing ways of providing nationwide generic logistics training and bespoke training and qualifications in those areas where there are none.

“By working closely together, Skills for Logistics and UKWA hope to focus on the common logistics-related skills development issues. We will look to do this through influencing policy makers and opinion formers in order to increase both public and private funding of training.”

Dr Mick Jackson and UKWA Chairman Derrick Potter signed the MOU during a ceremony on the UKWA Pavilion at the recent Multimodal exhibition. NEC, Birmingham.