The Palletways Group, Europe's largest and fastest growing express palletised freight network, has announced the appointment of a new UK Managing Director – Dave Walmsley, the company’s former Member and Network Development Director. 

The previous UK managing director, Luis Zubialde, has stepped into a new role as Chief Operating Officer for the Palletways Group.  

Dave joined Palletways 11 months ago from the Lyreco Group where he worked for 25 years, latterly as group commercial director, based in Brussels. At Lyreco, he was responsible for overseeing commercial operations across 28 countries in Europe and Asia and leading a team of over 4,000 sales people and call centre employees. 

Dave said: “I relish the challenge ahead as our experienced management team continue to grow the UK business. Palletways has a strong track record of customer service excellence and breaking new ground in technology and innovation. I look forward to driving this reputation ahead and working closely with our UK members to maintain our position as the number one palletised freight network throughout Europe. I also look forward to working with Luis again in his new role.” 

Palletways Group management changes
As part of his new role Luis will be responsible for the operational organisation of the business, and will oversee the managing directors of each European country to drive service excellence and solid growth for the Palletways Group across all 14 hubs in 20 countries. 

Luis has overseen huge improvement in Palletways UK performance over the last two years. He first joined Palletways in 2006 as Managing Director of Pallletways Iberia, leading its growth from a start - up operation to a well-established network and became Managing Director of the UK business in May 2014.

Luis said: “In my new role, there is a great opportunity to support business growth across Europe through geographic expansion and new products and services. Each territory can work together to share experiences and expertise to achieve great results on service excellence and pallet volumes, for our members in every network. We have a strong track record on breaking new ground with innovation, and I believe we can continue to enhance our reputation in the field of technology.

“I’d like to thank everyone at Palletways UK who has been part of our success in recent years and look ahead to new challenges. The UK network is stronger than ever before and our membership is without any doubt the best in class.”

The changes to Palletways’ management team coincide with the recent acquisition of the business by Imperial and shaping-up for the next phase of growth across Europe. 

James Wilson, Group Chief Executive Officer, added: “These appointments support our goal to become the European network of choice for the distribution of palletised express freight. Luis has overseen a substantial increase in UK service excellence and pallet volumes since his arrival in 2014, and we expect the skills and experience that he’ll bring to the Group will supercharge our growth in both existing and new markets.

“Dave has impressed us with his understanding of our business model and ability to fit into the company so quickly. His global logistics experience is a great asset as we look to build upon our successes in the UK.”

Other changes to the management structure include:

• Rachael Alpha, is appointed as Group Commercial Director, and was previously the Managing Director of Palletways Europe Gmbh. Rachael has 25 years’ experience in the logistics sector, of which she spent 22 years at UPS in senior Commercial roles. During her time at Palletways, she has delivered significant growth for Palletways international business and has taken an active role in commercial and marketing activities to support the entire European network.
• Wolfgang Neumann, the previous interim Group Commercial Director and Non-Executive Chairman of Palletways Deutschland will continue with the business in a part time consultancy role. Wolfgang first joined Palletways in 2013 and has over 20 years’ international experience in the audit, consulting, telecommunications and automotive sectors.
• Craig Hibbert, Group Strategic Member Development Director, has decided to take the opportunity to leave his full time role in the business. He’s made a huge contribution over 22 years to the Palletways success story, but will continue to work with the Group in a part-time consultancy role;
• Roberto Rossi, has decided to take the opportunity to step down as President of Palletways Italia and will continue to help the business as a part time consultant. Roberto joined Palletways Italia as President in 2007 and has made a significant contribution to the success of the network.  He has lead continuous improvement initiatives for operational excellence and has over 25 years of experience in the areas of strategic sourcing, consultancy and supply chain management.