UKWA (United Kingdom Warehousing Association) is proud to announce that the former director general of the CBI and trade minister, Lord Digby Jones will be guest speaker at the 16th annual Awards for Warehousing presentation ceremony. The event, which is sponsored by Jungheinrich UK, will be held alongside the Annual Luncheon, taking place in the Ballroom Suite of the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London, on Wednesday 1 July 2015.

There are a total of ten awards, which are free and very straightforward to enter. The deadline for submissions is 1 May 2015. Entry forms can be downloaded from: www.ukwa.org.uk where there are further details on all of the categories as well as table booking information for the Luncheon.

Peter Ward, CEO of UKWA said: We are thrilled that Lord Digby Jones will be our guest speaker at the Awards. We can expect an inspiring contribution to what is always a memorable day for our Association and the Logistics Sector. With nearly five hundred professionals from retailers, manufacturers, supply chain and logistics practitioners, 3PLs and UKWA members in attendance, this 16^th Annual Awards will be an unmissable networking opportunity. I would encourage anybody wishing to attend to book early as there will be a huge demand for places at this special occasion.

Digby Jones was born into business. Some of his earliest memories are of life in a busy corner shop where he lived with his family. The shop was, he says, ‘within a spanner throw of the Austin factory’, just outside Birmingham. He remembers fondly watching the new Minis leave the factory destined for showrooms across the UK and the world. It was here that he learnt the first rudiments of business “ important values that were never to leave him.

During his six and a half years as Director General of the CBI, Jones became renowned for his candid and forthright attitude in his many media appearances. In 2005 he was knighted for his services to business then, two years later, he was appointed Minister of State for UK Trade & Investment and became a life peer taking the title, Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham Kt. Forthright and, as ever, loyal to British business he spent the next 15 months ‘doing it in a different way’. Concentrating on promoting Britain across the world, he travelled to 31 countries in 45 overseas visits. Now, in addition to being an active crossbencher in the House of Lords, Lord Jones has a variety of roles with a plethora of leading organistions.

For further information, entry submission and table booking for the UKWA’s 16^th Annual Awards for Warehousing, visit: www.ukwa.org.uk