In pursuit of continuous professional development

Jim Steer FCILT passed on the Presidential baton to Jim Spittle FCILT at CILT’s annual President’s inauguration lunch.

Supply chain expert Spittle set out his priorities for the Institute, he told nearly 90 senior members and special guests that the Institute has achieved significant growth in its scope and influence over recent years. He outlined three key opportunities and priorities that he wants to pursue during his presidency:

• To develop continuous professional development (CPD) to help CILT members enhance their skills and expertise and gain a full breadth of experience in their careers.
• To increase Institute membership by at least 10% and address the fall in membership numbers, which have declined during the recent years of recession.
• To expand and enhance the Institute’s mentoring scheme to increase its effectiveness and reach to benefit more members.

Jim Spittle said that he was honoured to be President for 2014–15. He added that effective mentoring and skills training have advanced his career and he wants others to benefit from this approach.

His call to develop skills was backed up by guest speaker Nicola Shaw, Chief Executive, High Speed 1 rail link. She argued that training and professional development: ‘keeps motivation and retains staff through common teachings and skills’. This, she said, underpins the achievement of three objectives for HS1, to:

• Protect and grow, so that high performance of the HS1 rail line is maintained.
• Win by improvement and stay number one by improving continuously and innovating.
• Punch above its weight, finding ways to make paths available to other operators on the high-speed route.

Jim Spittle is one of the country's leading authorities on global supply chains. He is Chairman, GS1, which develops and implements international data standards, and he is an advisory board member of de Poel and Cranfield University’s Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management, where he is also an external examiner for its MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. He was previously Group Supply Chain Director, DSG International, Whitbread and Kingfisher, and a Director, Tesco plc.

One of the Institute’s longest-serving members and former President was also honoured. Outgoing President Jim Steer FCILT presented a special award to Jim Cleary FCILT, who has been a member of the Institute for more than 50 years and was Chairman of The Chartered Institute of Transport in 1991–92.

Vision 2035
CILT also launched Vision 2035, Transport, Logistics and the Economy - a significant series of new reports on the future of the UK’s transport infrastructure.

CILT’s well-received Vision 2035 report of 2011 captured headlines with its predictions for the UK’s infrastructure 25 years hence. Now the Institute has followed it with a series of in-depth reports addressing how the UK is shaping up to meeting the challenges.

You can view all of the Vision 2035 documents that have been released so far on the Public Policy page of the CILT website: http://bit.ly/1rFPaJS



Joining forces
CILT and the Institute of Road Transport Engineers (IRTE), two of the most respected organisations in the transport sector, are proud to announce a partnership to offer a suite of training products for Transport Managers.

With expertise in both the fleet engineering and operating roles, both Institutes will work together for the benefit of the industry in delivering first-rate training for transport managers, including CILT’s Transport Manager CPC, an invaluable CPC Refresher Course and a one-day Certificate of Compliance course.

Steve Agg, Chief Executive, CILT says: ‘CILT is pleased to partner with IRTE in offering Transport Manager Training, designed for the industry by the industry. This is a great opportunity for both engineers and operators to join forces and raise standards for all across their profession.’

Ian Chisholm, Head of Operations and Communications at IRTE says: ‘We are extremely pleased with this partnership which provides an excellent opportunity to establish a new approach to transport management training which will benefit the industry in ensuring standards of the highest level are maintained. In a constantly evolving industry IRTE is particularly keen to promote and support first class training of this type.’

For further information about CILT and IRTE’s specialist training see, website: www.transportmanagertraining.org.uk

Celebrating excellence
Over 500 of the UK’s leading professionals in transport, the supply chain and transport planning gathered in London last week for The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport’s Annual Awards Dinner. The prestigious Awards were held at one of London’s premier venues - the Lancaster London Hotel. CILT’s Annual Awards are designed to promote and encourage best practice within the logistics and transport sectors and are supported by organisations and individuals from throughout the industry.

Hailed as one of the best networking events of the year this year’s Awards were attended by finalists, sponsors, members and their guests.

The event was chaired by CILT President Jim Spittle FCILT, and hosted by TV presenter Chris Hollins.

There were sixteen awards announced on the night along with CILT’s special award for outstanding achievement, the Sir Robert Lawrence Award, which was presented by CILT board member John Boulter FCILT to Richard Brown CBE FCILT, for his contribution of more than 35 years to the UK rail industry.

Other winners on the night included, journalist Roger Ford, Network Rail and AMCO, Pallet-Track Limited, Traveline Cymru, John Lewis, uTrack Software Solutions, Novus, Transport for London and United Biscuits.

For a full list of winners visit to the CILT website: http://bit.ly/1tnvIaj