How do you keep a team of male truck drivers happy in their jobs? Simple: you have a team of female logistics experts behind them to make sure the show stays on the road. At least, that is the formula that one company in North Staffordshire has employed and it could not be happier with the results.
James T Blakeman & Co Ltd manufactures sausage and meat products. The family business, which is celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2018, supplies the domestic, export, catering and fast-food markets from its premises in Newcastle-under-Lyme. It produces cooked product for the catering and ready-meal markets and a contract cooking service for meat products.
The company has five HGV vehicles and two rigid-body Class Two vehicles that cover the length and breadth of the UK; and while it is an all-male team that sits behind the wheel, it is an all-female logistics team that keeps the many plates spinning to ensure customers are kept happy.
Helen Forbes is Logistics Manager, one of the handful of women in such a job among top businesses in this country. She is backed up by her assistant Sharon Lockett, with Sarah Smith supporting them both.
Jane Selman, Head of Human Resources, says: ‘Together they really are the Real Madrid of logistics teams. Logistics and transport is still very much a man’s world, but women like Helen, Sharon and Sarah are literally helping to drive through change. They are showing there is no reason for women not to think about this area for their career path and they can handle the job as well as any man.
‘Our team get on incredibly well and the focus is on just getting the job done together as best as we can. The men who drive the trucks have great respect for the three ladies who keep the show on the road and the women understand the pressures, difficulties and challenges the drivers face each day. They knit together seamlessly, which is marvellous for us as a company.’
Helen Forbes began at Blakemans in 2000 working part-time doing general admin tasks, making cups of tea and doing some filing. In time, she got more and more involved with the work of the transport manager: basically, because he was sitting in front of her.
She says: ‘As time went on, I got more and more involved in his work and helping him. When our transport section from a former premises to our new base here on High Carr Business Park in Newcastle-under-Lyme, I was asked if I could split my time between general admin stuff and working in the transport section. I absolutely loved the logistics and transport side of things and became the Transport Manager’s secretary. Over time I learned more and more and eventually became his assistant. I was able to learn the role inside out and was delighted when the company asked me to take on the role of Logistics Manager.’
Managing Director Phil Blakeman, whose father founded the business, says: ‘The Blakeman family has had the pleasure of employing Helen for more than 18 years now. She started in our clerical office. However, from the very start she excelled in every position she took on. She has exceptional communication skills, which is vitally important, bearing in mind her work with our customer base, drivers and management team. To sum her up is easy: she is an exceptional member of our team, fulfilling what for her is her perfect role.’
Helen Forbes’ role involves:
. Taking the phone orders from Blakemans customer base
. Liaising with manufacturing and warehousing to ensure the stock is ready, or about to be made and can be stored before shipment
. Loading and then route management/discussions with the drivers
. Crisis management – liaising with customers and drives when issues crop up over delays, such as a motorway crash or breakdown
She says: ‘It is an awful lot of plate-spinning and in this role it is about being unflappable, keeping calm and being a problem-solver. I absolutely love it. It is my dream job. I have [respect for] the drivers and it doesn’t matter to them one bit that it is all men behind the wheel and all women in the logistics engine room. We all muck in together and get on delivering the job.’
Sharon Lockett worked for another logistics company before taking on her current role, so she is used to the complex transport world of constantly juggling competing priorities. Sarah Smith, the final member of the team, provides vital admin support and also carries out the key role of daily contact and liaison with the customer base.
Jane Selman concludes: ‘Attitudes in the male-dominated logistics world are slowly changing and what Helen, Sharon and Sarah are showing is that gender doesn’t have to be an issue. It is more about skill sets and attitudes rather than whether you are a man or a woman and our example will help speed up change and hopefully encourage women to step into the very demanding but very rewarding world of logistics.’