DSV Road Ltd named as winner in BIFA Awards

DSV Road Ltd has been named as the winner in the BIFA Freight Service Awards in the Staff Development category.

The BIFA Awards, which took place at The Brewery in London on 19th January, recognises and rewards high standards and professionalism throughout the shipping and forwarding industry.

The Staff Development Award is open to companies who are developing, or have implemented, a new comprehensive staff development programme. DSV has been awarded because of its innovative new training and career development initiative, known as Young DSV.

Young DSV was developed by Jan Jensen, Global Head of Training & Education. When Jensen took the helm in 2015, he noticed DSV was not attracting enough young talent in all markets. Jensen and his team reviewed the standard of training on a global basis and realised there was a need for more formal training and education to offer trainees an industry recognised qualification and ensure the business had access to a consistent quality of freight forwarding personnel throughout Europe.

Jan Jensen commented"We are thrilled to be recognised at this years' BIFA Awards in the Staff Development category. We have come a long way since the first Young DSV class, which consisted of 18 carefully recruited young people from six different countries: United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Norway and Romania. Now in its second year, there are 40 trainees starting out in the class 2016-2018. The central idea is that all our freight forwarders should have the same education, allowing us to work from a joint platform of experience and best practice. And we need to secure a pipeline of young freight forwarders who can work throughout the entire global organisation."

The programme was created to attract, engage and retain young talent into the logistics industry and sees trainees following a structured plan with "on the job" training, where they learn side by side with managers and colleagues and have real responsibilities, as well as classroom learning and examinations. The theoretical programme consists of eight modules which include an industry overview as well as international markets, geography and culture, law and legislation. Trainees graduate with a formal qualification as a Freight Forwarder, a thorough understanding of DSV's DNA as well as an established global network of colleagues.

Jesper Hansen, Managing Director of DSV Road Ltd, commented: "We are very pleased with the success of our Young DSV programme. It is important for our business to attract young talent with a diversity of backgrounds, to develop as a freight forwarders or to become future leaders. We are committed to supporting young people who aspire towards a career in logistics. Young DSV allows us to encourage millennials to seek a future in our industry."

DSV was previously named winner of the BIFA's Staff Development Award in 2012, the European Logistics Award in 2013 and the Air Freight Award in 2014.