Young Freight Forwarder Award finalists spend a day at Virgin Atlantic

Three of the UK’s most talented young freight forwarders have been treated to a Familiarisation Day at Virgin Atlantic in recognition of their success in the latest British International Freight Association’s (BIFA) ‘Young Freight Forwarder of the Year’ award, which has been sponsored by Virgin Atlantic Cargo since 2011.

Award winner, Louis Perrin, a Director of Hemisphere Freight Services, was joined by fellow finalists Katie Brown, Air Freight Manager of TPS Global Logistics, and Irene Borghi, Customer Services Supervisor at Cargonet, for a day at London Gatwick Airport which began by meeting Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s Managing Director, Dominic Kennedy, who provided an overview of the airline’s cargo business and its exciting plans for the future.

Afterwards, Louis, Katie and Irene were taken on a tour of the airline’s different departments, including Engineering, Network Planning, Operations, HR, Finance and Training. They also visited the cabin crew training facility, the cargo warehouse operation and were taken air-side to see a flight being loaded and to enjoy a cockpit visit and the chance to speak to Virgin Atlantic flight crew. The day concluded with a tour of the airline’s VHQ headquarters.

Ray Wood, Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s Regional Sales Manager, UK, who organised the visit and joined the trio on their tour, said: “We are really proud to be a long-term sponsor of this great BIFA award, which aims to recognise and inspire future leaders of the freight forwarding industry. This year we wanted to take a step further and invite the finalists to the home of Virgin Atlantic so they gain even more experience from their success. It was a pleasure to welcome Louis, Katie and Irene into our business for the day and we plan to make this a part of our annual award sponsorship.”

It was also the perfect opportunity to wish Louis further success as he prepared to fly to this month’s FIATA World Congress in New Delhi to compete for the International Young Freight Forwarder of the Year award against other regional finalists.

Nominations are now being invited for the 2018 BIFA Young Freight Forwarder of the Year Award, which will be presented on 17 January 2019 at a ceremony in London attended by over 500 BIFA members. The award is open to anyone up to the age of 32 and entries must be completed by October 8, 2018. Full information can be found on the Association’s website at https://www.bifa.org/enter-now/young-forwarder-award