Contract awards

 

Isabelle Saliba -  National Supplier Manager Transworld Couriers

 

IOC CEO Tracey Worth comments

Isabelle’s energy, resilience, drive, and passion for the courier industry is contagious. This award recognises her commitment to go above and beyond for our sector.

 

 

The way she does it, compassion in crisis.

Since Isabelle’s humble beginnings back in 1991, in an industry that at the time was very much male centric, forming and building Transworld Couriers into a brand and business with a reputation second to none, handling the challenges, workload, hours, sacrifices and gambles you take with any new start-up was remarkable, we can fast forward 30 years and two months to today and her position and role at Citysprint,
Isabelle’s energy, resilience, drive, and passion for the courier industry is contagious, her passion to deliver the very best customer experience have not wavered, her values are the same today as they were back in 1991, to continue to deliver excellence.
She is an exemplary mother of 2 with a wealth of knowledge that she shares with family, friends, colleagues, and customers to ensure they achieve success. She is an inspiration to women and to those around her and a Great-Company critical asset. Isabelle is valued by customers and colleagues; the quotations below describe what I think about her as her GM and show how she embodies the organisational values and behaviours.
• Seeks to deliver excellence, seeing tasks through, and helping, supporting, and developing others.
• She sees how effective teamwork makes a difference, notices when people need extra support and can be always relied upon.
• She notices when the team needs a boost and acts upon it with her unstinting enthusiasm.
• She is highly professional, makes suggestions for improvement, but never forgets the importance of fun.
I could say that Isabelle is “doing her job” but what “makes a difference” is the way she does it; the compassion in times of crisis she shows for others, her commitment, drive, attitude, ethics, and values to deliver industry excellence.

 

 

 

Damien Montaque – Regional Manager , Technology services - Rico Logistics

 

IOC Chairman Carl Lomas comments

Damien has shown that he is an accomplished customer-focused regional manager, that can rise to any challenge and deliver, exceptional resilence to meet the customer needs. Well done.

 

 

Rico Logistics 20 years.

Damien has been in the industry for 20+ working at Concorde Logistics / DHL and now TVS SCS Rico Logistics. Damien has been instrumental with delivering services for our customers throughout the FSL network. Over the last 24 months he has worked well with ensuring that the FSLs within the London region are operating and performing and achieving the customer specific SLA’s
Damien was instrumental in the setup of SE16 and the services that it provides for Xerox and he has received the alcaldes for his application to service
Damien is an accomplished customer-focused regional manager with experience in generating revenue and meeting customer service level requirements.
He keeps a level head during operational challenges, evaluates opportunities and risks, and applies pragmatic solutions.
Damien possesses proven skill in strategic thinking and cross-divisional collaboration.

 

 

Road awards

 

Harjit (Harry) Singh - Onit Logistics, Heathrow ( award accepted by family members)

 

IOC Chairman comments

A courier who believes in what he does, commited to delivering customer satisfaction and never letting the company down, is a credit to the individual and to the sector.

 

 

He is the yardstick by which we measure all other couriers.

Harry has become one of the most professional couriers I have had the pleasure of meeting. Not all couriers are created equal, and this is very true of Harry. He may not know this, but when the airlines cut flights by up to 80% and our customers’ business all but ceased, the service Harry gave kept our competition away and brought us the time to restructure and survive.

This nomination is a very personal one for me. When we first started our business in late 2019 not only did we need faith in ourselves but we needed others to believe in what we were doing too. We got lucky...We met Harry.

Harry demonstrated from the outset all of the qualities we and our customers expected... Reliability, Flexibility and Proactivity. From the outset Harry delivered it all. His diligence and professionalism helped us through our first customer trial, and our second and our third. In fact, as I reflect Without Harry...we would not have been able to deliver on our word and may have no business at all. He is the yardstick by which we measure all other couriers.

He has developed an understanding of the intricacies and nuances of collecting and delivering into airlines that save both time and money for us and our customers. Moreover, when other couriers struggle to collect or deliver due to incorrect paperwork, he helps fix it for them, time and time again. When another courier delivered to the wrong address, we relied on Harry to use his connections to both find and re-deliver the package.

When we had a special project, such as stem cells collected from a London Clinic that need to be kept horizonal. We sent Harry. When we had an AOG delivery at 2am, from Heathrow to Aberdeen. Harry was up and on the case. Harry takes time to build relationships with regular collection points, ringing ahead to ensure waiting time is minimised, making sure we have the correct references, ensuring the correct contacts are present...all off his own back...all of which creates an exceptional customer experience. In such a short space of time

Harry, exceptional service he delivers for our customers every single day.

 

Phillip McGovern - GLH London

 

IOC Chairman Carl Lomas comments

As the only 2-wheels nomination to make it to the short list, Phillip McGovern has everything you want in a courier. He shows exceptional commitment to serving the customer.

 

 

Phillip is a great courier.

What makes a great courier? Philip is the answer. Reliability - Knowledge of the roads - A smile on the face for each and every customer. It sounds simple but it is not easy to sustain, we all know it requires self-discipline and a strong work ethic.

For years, Philip has been achieving this.

His words, “Despite whatever day you are having, it costs nothing to give a smile to your client and go that extra mile. Whatever the result, we will strive for perfection service.”

Philip has been providing courier services to GLH for seven years. At first he was a motorbike courier. He then switched to help us explore cargo bike technology being our first rider. We needed somebody who was fit, unfailing and knew the streets of London like the back of his hand and Philip fitted this profile like a glove. His help, patience and advice has been invaluable in allowing us to switch more and more to this new mode of transportation.
He is passionate about courier health and safety. As a cargo bike rider he states he is one of the few cyclists not to jump red lights and he has warned of the safety issues which have led to cyclist deaths.
There are no extraordinary one-off incidents, only the extraordinariness of his daily routine, going the extra mile on all occasions. Throughout his time as courier, he has brought considerable reassurance to both customers and Ops alike. This is despite recent significant personal health concerns for which he has needed to attend hospital appointments and have surgery.

We all know what happened during lockdown. We all know how we, as a nation, became dependent upon the courier for everything in our daily lives. We all know that couriers did not have the luxury of homeworking, they had to be out there for the nation’s people to make sure the nation kept going. Philip encapsulates this spirit and how we should be thankful for such services not just in the lockdown but long before as well, before couriers were better recognised for what they do day in day out in the media and the like.

 

Robert ‘Bertie’ Boyle - Yodel Leamington

 

IOC CEO Tracey Worth comments

Even through personal suffering, Bertie Boyle gave to others. The dressing of his vehicles for the customers delight was priceless.

 

 

Every season a decorated vehicle

An ambassador to our sector, Robert Boyle decorates his vans up for all different occasions, Halloween pictures (attached) he is highly recognised around the Warwickshire area receiving lovely feedback from all the customers he delivers to.
Robert has many themes to keep his customers happy, Halloween, Christmas, COVID, Mother’s day and Valentine's Day and so much more!!
Robert struggles with mental health and this helps himself overcome this with delivering happiness to others and he loves receiving positive comments while working and always goes the extra mile.

 

Abayomi Ekundayo  - Citysprint Manchester

 

IOC CEO comments

The only comment and one that speaks volumes is: we want fifty like him. Every delivery company's dream worker. Congratulations Abayomi.

 

 

We want fifty like him, quick but meticulous.

Abayomil is an excellent courier, quick but meticulous, especially when faced with several jobs. He is extremely dedicated and very focused in his approach to the work and always wants to provide the best possible service to his customers.

He is highly respected and liked by his fellow couriers. He has a great rapport and relationship with all the indoor team at the Manchester Citysprint Service Centre.

He makes himself available in OOH and can always be relied upon to do weekends. He has worked on most contracts for us and has done, and continues to do, a great job. He is a great asset to the controllers when those awkward jobs come in and provides cover for anything when he is on circuit. It’s fair to say you would like to have another 50 more like him.
He is always willing to do the trunk runs for the recent new business, Eurofins, TUI. He was also excellent when he did ECourier. He is the courier you put on something new when you want that great first impression and a job well done.

His vehicle is always clean and tidy, and he has just volunteered to have the new company wrap on it, which demonstrates his commitment and his pride for carrying out Citysprint work.
He is a courier who goes about his business in a professional manner, and he does it all with a smile on his face. He certainly is an asset to Manchester and the Citysprint Fleet.

 

Kevin Keegan - FedEx Paisley

 

IOC CEO Tracey Worth comments

Kevin has been such a support and credit to the depot. Making time for others and taking on responsibilites is commendable. He is a credit to his company and our sector.

 

 

Kevin puts himself forward for extra responsibility.

The Power Pad champion.

During the Purple PUD transition, Kevin put himself forward and asked for extra responsibility in becoming the ‘Power Pad Champion’ of Paisley station.

Part of our integration journey has seen our stations move from TNT to FedEx systems, a project we called Purple PUD, this initiative has been running throughout the country since September 2020, many of our team members have had to learn a new process and adapt to change in a short space of time. Although the responsibility lies with the management team to foster the change culture and support their teams through the transition, other individuals talents shone through and Kevin Keegan is a prime example.

During the Purple PUD transition, Kevin put himself forward and asked for extra responsibility in becoming the ‘Power Pad Champion’ of Paisley station. He attended the relevant training to enable him to help support his fellow colleagues and offer resolutions when required. Kevin was an extremely valuable asset during the first two weeks of GO LIVE. Kevin was taken off the road for these weeks where he made himself available to every driver prior to fleet departure and whilst out on the road. There was a specific hotline number the drivers could contact with any issues and Kevin manned the line for the entire day, supporting drivers whilst being a calming influence on the drivers he dealt with.

Kevin’s approach was such a success that when our neighbouring station was going through the transition, Kevin was asked if he would help support their GO LIVE weeks. He showed the same support, empathy and understanding in Bellshill station and was definitely a contributing factor to their smooth transition.
Kevin has a very approachable, friendly attitude towards everyone within the business regardless of which station or position they hold. He is always positive and will offer to help support wherever he can, whether that be supporting drivers on their routes or assisting in the office or other stations with Power Pad enquiries.

Kevin is open minded and open to change. He understands the needs of the business and the importance of supporting all of our colleagues through our current transformation. He has been a great support to the management team in the station and is very deserving of the National Courier Award. He continuously delivers fantastic results as a PUD driver and goes above and beyond with additional responsibilities to play a key role in the success of the business results.

 

Perry Ryan - Hermes Portsmouth

 

IOC Chairman comments

A very unusual delivery. Perry showed compassion and calm to take charge of a very difficult, sensitive and scary situation. Showing that couriers do more than just deliver parcels. Well Done Perry.

 

 

Driver Perry Ryan delivers baby.

Waterlooville courier lives up to job title of delivery after helping screaming woman give birth at Portsmouth home to baby Bella.

Deliveryman by name, deliveryman by nature! Meet Hermes super courier Perry Ryan who helped a customer he was delivering to give birth to her baby! Perry, who heard loud screams come from the customer’s property came to the rescue with his words of support and advice after calling 999!
Perry was at the door as mum, Bakhan Shoker, 30 saw her waters break,

Hermes Perry Ryan - Four Wheels Portsmouth depot, 29-year-old, who had ‘no idea what he was doing’, was left ‘shaking’. She couldn’t speak very good English but then I heard her say “baby baby baby”. I then realised what was happening and shouted through the letterbox and called 999. I was trying to calm her and reassure her’.

'Perry was so very helpful-what he did was so good’ 'He did such a good thing and I really appreciate it”.

 

Rupert Tufnail  - DPD Leicester

 

IOC Chairman comments

An industry first, over 700,000 deliveries in his career. This figure is amazing and takes an enormous amount of dedication and reliability to deliver. A sector first.

 

 

An unbelievable number – over 700 thousand deliveries

DPD awards a star for every hundred thousand deliveries a driver has delivered.
Rupert Tufnail, an Owner-Driver at Leicester depot achieved the incredible milestone of seven starts this year. 700 thousand, seven stars in 2020, he is the number one driver across the DPD network for most deliveries ever delivered.

Lee Cooke, DCM Leicester says, ‘Rupert is a legend, he is a huge team player and a massive asset to the depot.’

Rupert's total the day before the awards now stands at an amazing 739610 deliveries! Beat that!

 

Office awards

 

Paul Wildman - Operations Manager, FedEx Wellingborough

 

IOC CEO comments

Changing a management style to meet others is hard to do, but Paul empowered his new team and that showed true leadership skills.

 

 

Supportive to team families of deceased.

Over the last year Paul has been the sole Operations Manager during a period when Wellingborough station has experienced significant challenges and change.

During the pandemic and loss of two of our team members Paul played an instrumental part in keeping his team engaged ensuring that their safety was paramount. Paul offered support to the families of the deceased ensuring that they received the support available from the company.

Paul had regular meetings with a driver whose wife had died and left him with three young children, he tried every avenue to support him to keep him employed. We have also experienced mental health issues in the last year and Paul can offer a good understanding of mental health and awareness.

With a completely new team Paul has changed his management style from being a doer to a leader and has empowered his new supervisory team to lead from the front, he is a natural coach. Paul has led from the front ensuring his team understands costs and service and most importantly, an understanding of our people.

Paul has taken the lead role in health and safety and has worked alongside the Health and Safety Executive to ensure all of our staff have a safe working environment.

Paul has worked across all shifts and covered many weekends to ensure that some of our more challenging customers received a very good service. There are many changes going on throughout the business and Paul has been instrumental in ensuring that all staff are kept aware of the changes plus he has very strong relationship with the union representative. Paul has also started to reach out to the wider network to offer his support and also gain further knowledge.

 

Madeleine Burton - Operations Controller, Citysprint Portsmouth

 

IOC Chairman comments

Madeliene is a rare gem, shining her light with reliability - the key to her success and drive in our sector. Well deserved recognition.

 

 

A rare gem with total reliability.

Madeleine is a rare gem who consistently performs above and beyond, and is very worthy for her outstanding long term work ethic.

Maddie joined Citysprint on a temporary contract covering maternity leave, and it was always obvious from day one that she would not only end up staying, but make her way up the ranks very quickly. Soon came the customer support role, followed by Operations controller. She is keen to learn and attempt any knowledge gains where possible, including management training and I am confident this is where she will be heading towards very soon. Not only is Maddie one of the most reliable people I have ever come across, but she also possesses an abundance of ambition, and combines the two in a happy and friendly way that can only be described as “angelic”. This remarkable aura makes Maddie a real gem in the making.
In 3.5 years, Maddie has not had a single sick day, has never left any unfinished tasks and always puts her hand up to cover any work needed outside of her normal working hours. She is loved by all the couriers, colleagues, and customers.

In fact, every customer that has ever had communication with Maddie have only ever sung her praises, and in particular Wickes, of which the store manager had a lot of praise for Maddie and the team.
Maddie is one of a kind, a very rare gem indeed and deserves all the success that comes her way.

 

Rebecca Hunter - City Couriers Chesterfield

 

IOC Chairman comments

Single mother, 4 children and the drive to support the company growth from a start-up to £3million. She has the tenacity and drive that supports everyone else.

 

 

Team player balanced home life with work to build £3 million turnover for regional courier company

Rebecca joined Chesterfield-based City Couriers Direct Ltd from day one of the company. In the early days she worked from her kitchen table and has helped the business grow into a 3 million pound turnover company . She has embraced all aspects of the company’s functions - from invoicing to route planning through van collections, IT and marketing . A team player who has combined a busy home life ...4 young children with the challenges of developing a new business into a key strategic partner in the busy parcel delivery and collections sector . Rebecca has an insatiable appetite to grow as a person and is justifiably proud of her role in the development of City Couriers Direct. Rebecca epitomises everything good about a business determined to create new high standards in the industry and she rightly deserves this nomination.

Becki joined the company from day one and began as Office Manager . We operated from her kitchen table and Becki undertook the roles of Invoice clerk. Van collections . Journey planning . Cost analyst .IT manager . Client liaison etc. She was responsible for all the administration and oversaw the move to our new premises at Tapton Park Innovation Centre in Chesterfield. She has been at the heart of our exceptional growth as a business and was rewarded with the title of Communications Director earlier this year .

She is a single parent with four small boys which makes her commitment and dedication all the more remarkable. During my cancer operation and illness earlier this year Becki took on full responsibility for the company's management and is a dedicated individual with a reputation for professionalism and integrity. She oversees our strategic partnership with Hermes and is at the forefront of our company growth. I have no hesitation in recommending her for an IOC award......Thank you, and kind regards Darryl Claypole.

 

Sheila Bradley - Operations Support , FedEx Deeside

 

IOC Chairman Carl Lomas comments

Sheila shows a fantastic working relationship with her team, the go-to person when requiring resolution of complex issues. Exemplary skills we need in our sector, well done.

 

 

Professional adapts to any situation or task.

Sheila started with the company in August 2018. In this short time, she has demonstrated an immense ability to learn and develop her knowledge, skills and expertise for the benefit of both herself and that of others and the business.

Over this time Sheila has also been incredibly flexible; working all shift patterns within her role at a moment’s notice to cover absence, displaying great willingness to stay over to ensure duties are complete, even when outside of her usual remit, and inclusive of driving duties within the station.
In 2020 during the integration of our Chester and Deeside stations, (bringing two families under one roof) and throughout the integration of both operations teams, Sheila acted as a bridge between both. Sheila has been an absolute beacon of light and hope, displaying a ‘ONE Team’ ethos at all times.

Sheila has fantastic working relationships with all members of her team both internal and external and is often the go-to for drivers when requiring resolution of complex issues due to her honed ability. All this is testimony to how Sheila has developed her communication and operational abilities over such a short period of time, making her a formidable part of the team.

During recent times Sheila has also stretched her support to other stations in times of need, to support with clearing deliveries and to support with integration and training duties at other stations. All stations made comment on how good Sheila was during these times of support, again testimony to how she professionally adapts herself to any task or duty!

 

Shakur Razaq National Operations Manager – Technology Services Rico Logistics

 

IOC CEO Tracey Worth comments

Shakur has a track record of resolving customers' logistical challenges; no easy feat, but Shakur delivers.

 

 

Customer collaboration building delivery to over 1800 lockers to a thousand fixed sites

Shakur has been employed within the ‘In Night’ industry for over 20+ years and worked for Lynx Express and UPS before joining Rico Logistics in 2018. Since that time he has been instrumental in building and developing the TVS SCS Rico Logistics In Night network to deliver nationally Pre 7. The network expanded quickly and is now delivering to over 1800 lockers exchanges / 1000 fixed sites per night.

Shakur has strong team-building skills that have increased productivity and results with both local and remotely managed teams. He has created a positive and inspirations work environment establishing a can-do attitude within the In Night team

He has a track record of resolving customer’s logistical challenges providing a win-win for both the customer and Rico Logistics.

Achievements:
During the development period of the network, he has constructed a dedicated team to support delivering the service and is achieving excellent daily weekly SLAs of 98.7% and above for all services.
He has worked collaboratively with customers and his team to ensure that he peripheral areas such as the highlands are equally served with pre 8 SLA’s

Customers support testimony -
BT Final Mile recognise the role that Raz has performed for their service delivery and the true partnership has been exceptional and has delivered fantastic results that has lead to BT Final Mile having fast substantial revenue growth for their business within a 36 month period.

 

Craig Burton - Yodel

 

IOC Chairman comments

An amazing number, 1 million test kit collections in a month. Craig has showned he can deliver under pressure.

 

 

1 million test kit collections in a month - ‘This project is beyond anything anyone has witnessed’

Craig Burton, Client Operations Support Manager has been with Yodel for 25 years. Craig has been leading Yodel's support in an Ipsos MORI coordinated study to track levels of COVID-19 within communities through managing the collection of test kits across the UK, which surpassed 1 million collections last month. Speaking about the project, Craig said "I embrace every task with passion and dedication, but the importance of this project is beyond anything anyone has witnessed. It was fully supported by myself and the Yodel family, and the tremendous results fill me with such pride."

 

Andrew Clark - Operations Manager, Tuffnells Newport

 

IOC CEO Tracey Worth comments

Andrew's positive attitude and professionalism is evident in his dedicated actions throughout the pandemic.

 

 

His friendly nature shines through, even in a pandemic.

PPE to the NHS

Throughout the pandemic, Andrew has provided excellent support for our customers, helping to ensure the smooth running of our operation in a challenging time. Andrew’s key role in the delivery of vital PPE equipment to the NHS and local care homes stands out.

As a result of short-staffing due to COVID, Andrew instinctively recognised the critical nature of the task, spending two weeks with long hours in Tuffnells’ Bristol depot, dedicated to ensuring the equipment was delivered on time, ready to provide essential protection for those on the front line.

It's no surprise to witness Andrew’s dedication. Having worked for Tuffnells for ten years, his positive attitude and professionalism has always been evident, and his supportive and friendly nature shines through in his everyday interactions with team members. I’m proud to nominate Andrew for a National Courier Award, as he regularly demonstrates the best of who we are.

 

Rob Cottle - Smiths News, Birmingham

 

IOC CEO Tracey Worth comments

Standing ovation for the return to work is clear indication of the contribution Rob gives to his work, company and delivery.

 

 

Back from COVID

An inspiration to his colleagues, back from a long battle with COVID in early lockdown he returned to deliver.

Smiths News were delighted to welcome back in April their colleague Rob Cottle to the Birmingham depot , after overcoming a long battle with COVID-19.

The depot was upstanding for the return of their family member.

Everyone was so happy to see him back at work; he received a standing ovation from the team!

Wayne Foster, Hub Manager, said: “It’s so wonderful to have Rob back with us. His return has been a real shot in the arm for us and it’s great to see him walking the floor once more. You could really see the joy in his face as he was reunited with his Smiths News family. Listening to his story has been emotional for all of us.

“We’ll be supporting him over the coming weeks to settle him back at his own pace, and he will be continuing to take things easy.”

A warm welcome back Rob!