Dr Ross Moloney’s tenure as CEO has been confirmed by the Skills for Logistics (SfL) Board. Having initially been appointed in the provisional role of acting CEO in September 2013, Dr Moloney immediately created the ‘Attract, Develop, Support’ motif. This concisely encapsulates the role of Skills for Logistics in addressing the key challenges facing a logistics sector that needs more recruits and to provide better training and greater skills.

Dr Moloney commented: “It has been a busy but tremendously fulfilling time since taking on this role in September, which I look forward to building on. Within the last six months we have worked hard at SfL to drive forward key schemes as part of our ‘Attract, Develop, Support’ role. These include the ‘Logistics Guild Credit Union’ and the ‘Certificate to Work’ and I would encourage you to read more about these schemes on the easily accessible, online page-turn brochures here: http://issuu.com/skillsforlogistics

“We have also been developing successful projects such as the Military Work Placement Scheme, The Skills Calculator, the Professional Development Stairway, Local Logistics Community Networks (LLCNS) and partnerships with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). Looking ahead, we are currently developing ideas around apprenticeships, traineeships and Driver CPC. As before, we will be presenting these schemes to the sector to gain support. Our role as enabler and commissioning agent is to seek funding for these, and other key schemes.

“To make this happen, however, requires engagement from logistics employers. There is clear evidence that employers care about skills, want to talk about skills and – given that collaboration is a key part of logistics - they are not scared of working together. By working together, the logistics sector becomes a powerful lobby group that will attract expert advice and help from government agencies. With all this in place, we can fix many of the skills challenges that we face.”

Photo: Dr. Ross Maloney