Europa Worldwide Group has announced two promotions within its Human Resources (HR) team. Emma Jackson and Clare Maund who have been supporting Europa Road, have both moved into the new position of Senior HR Business Partner (HRBP).
New Role Responsibilities
In these newly created roles, they will oversee other members of the 11-strong HRBP team, which supports those working across all three Europa divisions (Road, Warehouse and Air & Sea) with the full spectrum of HR needs.
Emma and Clare report into Central Services Director Tom Jenkins, who heads up the firm’s HR function as part of the Group’s strategic expansion plans. At that point, an expanded team of HR professionals were appointed to support the evolving people management needs of a rapidly growing organisation.
Role of HRBP overview
The role of HRBP was created within the business to decentralise and embed the HR service, blending it across all operations to enable better engagement with teams and to develop stronger business partnerships.
Emma and Clare’s Experience
Both Emma and Clare have a wealth of HR experience, with the former having been with the business for nearly two years, and the latter just over a year. During that time, both have made significant contributions to the business in supporting managers and employees within their respective divisional areas.
Emma said:
“I’m absolutely thrilled with this promotion because it exemplifies what Europa is all about; supporting its people to grow and develop as we strive to set the pace in the market. I feel very fortunate to have been given this opportunity and look forward to working alongside my HR colleagues to support our teams and enable the business to achieve its commercial goals.”
Clare commented:
“It’s a real privilege to take this step up the career ladder, and I’m incredibly excited about the next chapter. Europa prides itself on building positive teams and in taking bold steps to stretch individual and cumulative potential. I can’t wait to support our teams further on Europa’s continued journey, empowering them with skills and knowledge to perform to the very best of their abilities.”
Europa’s Rapid Growth
Europa is one of the fastest-growing independent logistics firms operating in the global marketplace today, with a team of over 1,300 people across the UK, Belgium, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai and South Africa. The pioneering firm recently announced a record turnover of £316m for its last year up to the end of August 2022.
The Vital Role of the Transport and Logistics Sector
The Covid crisis exemplified how vital the transport and logistics sector is in keeping global supply chains moving, and in the UK, it now contributes £139bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) contribution to the economy. Globally, the sector is expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 6.8 per cent between 2022-2030.
The Challenges of Recruitment
Yet despite this growth, recruitment remains a key challenge, with acute shortages in many logistics roles caused by Brexit, the failure of the industry to diversify the workforce and succession plan, and the shift towards self-employment and agency.
Europa’s Expanding Business Portfolio
Europa has always favoured direct employment to grow its teams in line with the firm’s expanding business portfolio, which is why there has been extensive investment over the past few years in the corporate HR function.
Tom Jenkins explained:
“Empowering people across the organisation with the right skills and knowledge to perform is central to our approach to doing business. We have worked incredibly hard to develop our workplace culture, introduce new systems, and strategically align the overall HR function with the organisation’s commercial objectives.
“Emma and Clare joined Europa with extensive HR experience and have proved they can continually deliver and grow with the ever-changing demands of Europa’s expansion and plans to consistently exceed customer expectations. I’m confident both will continue to represent the HR function brilliantly, overseeing the wider team and all HR initiatives, ensuring we deliver a people management strategy that supports the entire group.”
