On Tuesday 25 August, Helen Hardy, CEO of CILT(UK), joined by Judith Bentley, Head of Workforce Capability at CILT(UK), and Rebecca Fox, Director of Memberships & Communities at CILT(UK), visited an SSE site in Thatcham for a logistics operations showcase.
The day was a celebration of SSE’s recent achievement of Advanced Capability Recognition with CILT(UK), becoming one of the only three organisations at this level – joining BAE Systems and Babcock. Attaining Advanced Capability Recognition demonstrates that SSE has an embedded culture of thought leadership, knowledge sharing, open communication and innovative practise.
Capability Recognition is at the heart of transformational relationships between CILT(UK) and logistics, transport and supply chain organisations. It is a dynamic self-analysis process giving organisations an opportunity to ensure that their approach to professional development supports their employees to deliver goals and to grow in their careers.
Since becoming a CILT(UK) partner in October 2024, SSE have supported the continued professional development of their staff, with over 100 CILT(UK) eLearning enrolments; have been a finalist in the ‘Supply Chain Innovation’ category at the CILT(UK) Awards in September 2025; and have been awarded Advanced Capability Recognition within one year of accomplishing Recognised Capability in April 2025.
On top of celebrating recent achievements, the visit also provided an opportunity for SSE to share knowledge and best practise, demonstrating their commitment to innovation across the supply chain and logistics sectors. This included discussions regarding their recent launch of ‘Transformation for Growth’, a £33bn five-year infrastructure investment programme to help transform the UK’s electricity infrastructure and deliver long-term benefits for society.
CILT(UK) were not the only SSE partners in attendance on the day, with DHL Supply Chain, Cranfield University, and Oracle all coming together to share expertise and plan for the future. DHL Supply Chain, who manage SSE’s distribution operations, Cranfield University, a leading institution for supply chain management, and technology company Oracle are all facilitating SSE’s clean energy transition - with Professor Emel Aktas and Professor Miyang Yang from Cranfield sharing their exciting research on circular economy operations.
Helen Hardy, CEO of CILT(UK), said:
“Following SSE’s achievement of Advanced Capability recognition, Tuesday’s showcase brought together partners from across its supply chain ecosystem to share best practice and demonstrate how collaborative working is delivering measurable improvements in performance.
“Our visit also highlighted the value of CILT(UK)’s Capability Recognition programme in driving excellence, innovation and long-term resilience across critical supply chains.”
Tim MacDonald, FCILT, Head of Logistics at SSE, said:
"It was an absolute pleasure to have Helen Hardy and some of the CILT(UK) team visit our site in Thatcham last week, giving us an opportunity to showcase our operations and celebrate our partnership with DHL Supply Chain, Cranfield University and Oracle.
“The whole Logistics team and I here at SSE are so proud to have received CILT(UK)'s Advanced Capability Recognition - this is a huge milestone for us and reflects the hard work, culture and professional standards our teams achieve every single day.
“We are looking forward to helping develop the next generation of talent through our continued relationship with CILT(UK) and their CPD programme."