I have been running this logistics industrial estate since 2010. We have 183 businesses and 18000+ employees. I have just started the revote for Brackmills to secure another 5 year term. This is our 4th term of 5 years and we are the only industrial BID in the whole of Europe that has ever managed 3 terms let alone 4, so I must be doing something right! - I played a pivotal role in securing the YES vote for BID status. This means Brackmills is now the largest industrial and logistics estate in Europe to have retained its status as a Business Improvement District (BID) for a fourth (five-year) term. This is huge in terms of putting Northamptonshire on the map, logistics in the UK on the map and boosting the profile of Brackmills businesses. I was crowned Logistics Person of the Year in the Northamptonshire Logistics Awards in 2023. I first joined the BID Board nearly 10 years ago, volunteering my time to help steer and shape Brackmills, to support logistics as well as other businesses on the estate. When I first joined the board I was the only female director and I was instrumental in changing this so there is now a truly diverse board representing the estate.

Hannah Morris brings over a decade of expertise and experience in supply chain management and technology as Managing Director of leading Supply Chain innovation SaaS company and digital ecosystem, One World Global Trade Management. Under Hannah’s leadership, the organisation is pioneering inventive solutions to forge seamless, collaborative supply chains across diverse organisations, cultures, and countries. One World takes a unique approach to not only integrate seamlessly with existing technologies, but also ensures significant value, all while carefully sculpting long-term strategies to sustain a continuous competitive edge.

Hannah’s extensive background spans a variety of projects, ranging from fostering collaboration with governments across the European Union and the UK, to making significant contributions to efficiencies in industries as varied as fashion and pharmaceuticals. Demonstrating a keen insight into the shared underlying issues within collaboration challenges, she is dedicated to actively addressing and resolving these key concerns, whilst advocating for the organic reuse of information throughout the supply chain in support of greater transparency and a vision for a circular economy.

Hannah’s passion, vision and leadership not only drive technological advancement but also foster a more interconnected and efficient global supply chain landscape, creating opportunities across the value chain to benefit harmoniously from a shared version of the truth.

Having worked in Logistics for 16 years I feel honoured to have worked during a period where the journey of a product has evolved and the demand on the Supply Chain has increased so much. My career started supporting independent retailers with different needs but also some complex restrictions within the food sector, moving into the world of a 3pl managing both small and large brands and their service into our national supermarkets and now I am managing the end to end operation across an omni channel retailer delivering a 5% luxury brand service. I have been fortunate enough to deliver a front and back end web replatform including the replacement of 8 systems and resigned a warehouse and store fulfilment system that was aligned to our business needs but also giving me the opportunity to expand the service and offering we can give to our customers. I believe, no matter who the end customer I, or what the product is that you are moving through the Supply Chain, the journey it takes is exciting but also one that is always open for improvement.

Alison worked in safety and risk for over 25 years and has specialised in fleet risk and compliance. At Skanska, she passed her International Transport Manager CPC and started learning about the fleet industry with all its vagaries and complexities. Alison has worked extensively with businesses in construction, civil engineering, utilities, and passenger transport, which have traditionally been seen as ‘male dominated’ professions.

She has been hugely successful in reducing the fleet risk and collision rates of several large fleets by focusing on driver behaviour and education and has received many industry awards for her success in this area, including the Kevin Storey Award for Outstanding Commitment to Road Safety, which was awarded to her at the Brake 2019 Fleet Safety Awards. Having worked operationally for most of her career, Alison is now the Client Compliance Director at Beverley Bell Consulting and Training where she works with clients to guide and advise them.

Vanessa Young commenced her career in logistics with TNT International; after arriving from South Africa in 2000; and held a number sales and customer service roles at the global company. When children keep her away from distribution for period of time she set up and successfully run her own local community magazine.

With the acquisition of Ketra Logistics in 2014 she returned to the sector, making a further acquisition in 2017 of IEFS Ltd. A director and shareholder, her award winning business Ketra Logistics, has been partnered with Palletways for over 20 years. The business now employs 80 people and turns over £12M – Vanessa places the customer at the heart of every decision and believes that this; alongside the Ketra ‘Winning Formula’; is the key to her continued business success.

Cathy Earnshaw-Balding is an extremely passionate and driven HR professional with over 20 years’ experience. As Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at GXO, Cathy leads a team of like-minded individuals across the UK&I to deliver the diversity strategy, striving towards a more inclusive organisation for all employees. She has a proven track record of developing and implementing D&I strategy for the benefit of individuals, to support customers and work alongside charitable partners and government organisations.

“Dawn Richmond has over 20 years’ experience in logistics having held various roles from finance to MIS. Now a lead within the diversity, inclusion and belonging team for GXO UK & Ireland, Dawn is passionate about building a culture of belonging. Using her own lived experience as a visible gay woman, she drives inclusion initiatives through education and partnerships, helping to achieve the goal of a truly diverse workforce. She is determined to ensure others have a voice and that their voice is heard.”

Rob Gittins is Managing Director of Palletways UK. Having dedicated his career to logistics, Rob has 37 years experience in the sector. He joined Palletways in 2007 and has been a member of the senior team the past 15 years. He took the role of Managing Director in 2018 and during that time has implemented a strategy that has grown the company and steered it through unprecedented challenges of Brexit, Covid pandemic and latterly the UK driver shortage.

His vision and innovative outlook continues to help meet current market challenges. In 2022, Rob Spearheaded a project to launch a world-first for the global logistics industry – a technological innovation that takes operational efficiency, health and safety within pallet-focused environments to new levels. The innovation, called Palletways ID, is the world’s most sophisticated forklift truck-mounted (FLT) sensor technology and is set to make existing stand-alone pallet assessment and measuring technology obsolete, as it combines four key data measurements in one go. This technology identifies a pallet through imaging and barcode scanning while delivering pinpoint accurate weight measurements as the pallet is being moved, and for the first time, cubes its dimensions in seconds again while the FLT is in motion.

Bethany Windsor is Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Management at CILT(UK). Bethany’s role centres around promote the profession to underrepresented groups and securing the next generation of supply chain professionals through a wide range of programmes, including Generation Logistics. Her work with Women in Logistics won Bethany the 2015 Multimodal “Woman of the Year” award, followed by recognition as a finalist in the Everywoman in Logistics and Transport awards (2018) and securing the Talent in Logistics awards (2019), both for “Industry Champion”. As a former teacher, inspiring the next generation to choose the logistics sector is a personal and professional passion.