Delegates at this year’s UK Warehousing Association’s National Conference (UKWA), held on 8-9 March in Chester, heard from a series of high-profile speakers offering advice, insights and inspiration on the theme, Building Tomorrow’s Workforce Today.

In her keynote speech, Eleanor Winton, founder of consultancy Foresightfully, told delegates to be curious, explore, and prepare for uncertainties. She said it was more important than ever to learn faster and govern smarter as technology accelerates.

A key topic on the first day was how to attract more talent into the industry. Bethany Windsor of Think Logistics and Novus underlined the importance of education as a route into the sector and introduced a number of young graduates, all of whom spoke with confidence and passion about their respective roles and experiences in warehousing and logistics. Bethany asked delegates to get behind promoting opportunities in the industry in schools and colleges. “Young people can’t be what they can’t see!” she said.

Co-founders of the charity Tempus Novo, Steve Freer and Val Wawrosz, explained how they are ‘changing the world, one life at a time’, rehabilitating ex-offenders by finding them work, while also opening up for employers a new pool of talented people who, given a second chance, were determined to demonstrate that they could be reliable, hard-working and loyal.

The clear message from both Ruth Edwards, Operations Director at Talent in Logistics and James Terry, Vice President of Sales at Indeed Flex, was that employers in the warehousing and logistics sector are in a highly competitive marketplace and can no longer view workers simply as commodities. Instead, they argued, what staff want from their employment should shape future recruitment and retention strategies.

As part of a high-powered big brand Logistics Users panel, with Nestlé, Reckitt, Fitflop, British Airways and Coca-Cola, Amy McNamara, Head of Operations at Boohoo, revealed the fashion retailer is extending its ordering window to midnight for next-day delivery and is looking at introducing same-day delivery to meet consumer demand.

Jon Sleeman, Director of UK Industrial & Logistics Research at JLL, said that human-centric warehouse design was very much to the fore, while Jon Kirby, Commercial Director of Secure Business Solutions, told delegates that Iron Mountain’s new warehouses were being built with the comfort and convenience of workers in mind – from creches to five-a-side football pitches.

Day two focussed on automation, robotics and change management. Expert panelists from Locus Robotics, Wise Robotics, BotsAndUs, Geek+ and Omron agreed that robots were not about to take over the warehouse anytime soon.

According to Paul Cusack of Omron Industrial Automation Europe, “The fear of being replaced by robots is misplaced, robots will take away mundane work and free people to do more interesting jobs. It is our responsibility to change that perception.”

Commenting on the event, UKWA CEO Clare Bottle concluded, “This extremely popular UKWA event was sold out this year. It was clear that members were keen to meet and network on a face-to-face basis again after the long months of lockdown, and the themes we addressed – recruitment and retention, robotics and automation, putting people at the heart of our plans for the future – resonated with delegates. We were fortunate to have some fantastic, incredibly knowledgeable speakers and panelists, which made for a lively and engaging event. I think we all learned a lot and felt inspired to be more curious, bold in our vision and armed with practical solutions to address the key issues we face for the future.”

Photos: Keynote speaker Eleanor Winton (top); UKWA CEO Clare Bottle.