On 28 June more than 450 members of the UK’s transport industry gathered at Leicester Square’s shiny new luxury hotel, The Londoner, to celebrate the winners of this year’s everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards.
Now in their 16th year, the awards celebrated 69 outstanding individuals, sharing their extraordinary stories, championing their achievements and recognising them as role models for future generations of female talent.
This year’s 17 winners embody a wide range of career experience and journeys, from apprentice to senior leader, and sit across all sectors of the industry, from freight and retail to public transport, sustainability and tech. They showcase the progression, accomplishments and increasing opportunities in what remains a traditionally male-dominated industry.
The awards recognised two winners per category (Leader and Above & Beyond) and one recipient of the Tech Innovator, International Inspiration, Industry Champion, Male Agent of Change, Apprentice of the Year and Woman of the Year Award. In recognition of the significant role sustainability has played in transforming the sector, a new category ‘Sustainability Champion’ was included this year for the first time. The award was won by Claire Wansbury from engineering and environmental consultancy, Atkins.
The 2023 Woman of the Year Award went to Shipra Singh, General Manager at Amazon EU SARL Ltd, from London. Shipra leads a team of over 200 managers across 125 sites in 12 countries within the UK and EU, and is responsible for the transportation operations, driver experience, yard infrastructure and technology programs for Amazon.
Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founder of everywoman said, “We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards. These individuals embody the passion, dedication, skills, and leadership that are making transport and logistics the dynamic and resilient foundation of the UK. It’s been an honour to hear the amazing stories from the extraordinary winners and we are delighted to shine a spotlight on these exceptional women whose achievements will motivate others to consider a career in this industry, paving the way for future generations of ground-breaking women to succeed.”
With women still only accounting for 20% of the 1.7 million people working in transport and logistics, tackling the lack of female recruits is still a major challenge. The everywoman awards programmes play an important role in highlighting success stories, shifting perceptions and creating role models to inspire future female talent who may not see the industry as an option for them. A significant 76% of former award winners agreed that their everywoman award has positively impacted their career and 63% said it improved their personal and professional confidence.
Sadly, none of this year’s winners came from the removals sector, which is a pity given the many talented women who work in our industry. Entries for next year’s competition will open later this year, so if there is a woman in your organisation who deserves recognition for her efforts and you’re based in the UK or Ireland, why not nominate her for an award? The competition is free to enter and is open to all women in the transport and logistics industry, whatever their role.
For a full list of this year’s everywoman award winners, click here.
Photo: The 2023 Transport & Logistics Awards winners flanked by Maxine Benson MBE on the left and Karen Gill MBE on the right.