Pall-Ex (UK) Ltd

Developing business administration talent in logistics

Pall-Ex (UK) Ltd is always looking for new young talent to bring to the business. It identified industry placements as an excellent opportunity to build on existing work-related training programmes and bring someone in on the administrative side of organisation.

Based near Coalville, Leicestershire, Pall-Ex is a palletised freight distribution company. The road haulage business is supported by a wide range of service departments including finance, HR and marketing.

“Placements are always a good way of reaching young talent and seeing where they could fit. The logistics sector is rarely spoken about in schools and is not deemed a popular sector for the younger generation to become a part of. At Pall-Ex, we wanted to promote the breadth of roles we have within the business.”
Abby Langley, Marketing Manager

Pall-Ex looks for students who are willing to learn and show commitment to being in a work environment. Prospective placement students provide a personal statement setting out their learning goals and objectives and take part in a group interview. This allows the company to match each student with the department that best meets their needs and interests.

Building a strong relationships with local schools, colleges and training providers has been key. Through meeting the industry placement officers, team managers are able to understand the needs of the students and agree what all parties are looking to achieve.

A young person’s risk assessment is carried out for all students under 18. Although there are age restrictions on access to some areas, these do not impact on the work undertaken by business administration students.

Creating business placement opportunities in the Pall-Ex marketing department

The marketing team has led the way on introducing extended industry placements into Pall-Ex. On being approached directly by a student, the team’s manager worked with the student and Leicester College to design a placement which benefitted everyone involved.

As the Pall-Ex Marketing team work on several projects at a time, the student was able to develop business and administration skills while getting a taste of different specialisms including event management, social media, website creation and print marketing. She also spent time with the customer service and international teams, to experience the diversity of teams across the company.

Return on investment

Industry placements add value for Pall-Ex by:

• raising the profile of the logistics sector with young people as source of diverse administrative career opportunities
• reaching into local communities to attract new talent to the business, which is critical as they have an ageing workforce
• bringing in fresh ideas and perspectives which enhance the work
• providing opportunities for existing staff to develop their skills, by managing, supervising and mentoring students
• providing extra capacity to help with projects, especially during busy periods

“Industry placements can also help our staff develop their team building and management skills. Some departments’ managers only look after a handful of people, so to add someone with little experience to their team can also support their growth and development within the business.”
Abby Langley, Marketing Manager