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Associated British Ports Humber ramps recruitment at IRFT
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Associated British Ports Humber is recruiting for 24 roles within the Immingham Renewable Fuel Terminal (IRFT).

The roles are broken down between 20 operative roles and four Assistant Operations Managers. The terminal is located within the Port of Immingham, which is the UK’s largest port by volume as well as being the largest handler of dry bulk cargo.

The terminal has the capacity to handle over 20 million tonnes of bulk cargo each year. There are already over 100 people employed at IRFT and the terminal is the world’s largest biomass facility, handling over 6.4 million tonnes of cargo annually.

IRFT is at the forefront of the supply chain in renewable power generation from biomass. The facility supports Drax Power’s biomass-fuelled units. Drax Power is the world’s leading producer of wood pellets and supplier of renewable energy solutions.

There has already been significant investment in the infrastructure and plant at the Port of Immingham to develop blending and storage facilities to secure Drax’s emerging additional supply chain of non-wood pellet biomass.

The investment in IRFT includes upgrade of the sheds’ safety systems, expansion of the lorry load in facility and the purchase of machinery.

Simon Bird, Regional Director, said: ‘This is an exciting opportunity to join the team, with investment flowing into the terminal and more upgrades to be finished in 2021, it really shows how great an industry the renewable sector is.’

The operative roles’ responsibilities include training to operate equipment, to be safe when working, meeting targets set by managers, and cleaning of equipment and site. The roles require an active approach to identifying improvements and opportunities and an ability to develop good working relationships with other port users, tenants and customers.

The Assistant Operations Managers’ responsibilities include being accountable for the health and safety of all operatives, leading through example and acting as a role model for safe ways of working and productivity, coaching team members and identifying team goals to evaluate team progress.

Drax Power Station is critical national infrastructure at the heart of the UK’s energy system, supplying 5% of the country’s electricity from the country’s largest renewable power generator and the biggest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Humber International Terminal is part of the Humber ports that have been working hard, 24 hours a day, in keeping Britain trading. The Port of Immingham is a vital resource and powers one in ten homes in the U.K.

To find out more about the roles, please visit https://careers.abports.co.uk/search.

STEM – Is it too late to plug the gender gap?
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It may seem like a fairly complex task to sell supply chain and logistics to women – what can we do to encourage more to consider our industry for their career path?

In order to want to fill a job, you must be able to envisage yourself in it first. For a woman, looking at a male dominated industry, it is virtually impossible for them to do so. Therefore, to encourage more women, companies need to have more women — starting at the top. 

For centuries a stereotype has existed around the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) industries. This is perhaps the main reason why the number of women in the industry is still at such a low level. Tragically, despite the stereotype now being incredibly out dated, its presence still lingers. 

Manual labour, long working hours and rows of assembly lines — this is the impression that sticks on most people from outside the industry. So much so, a survey carried out by Women in Manufacturing (WiM) found that almost three quarters of women would not consider a career in manufacturing as a viable option.

In 2018, the FTSE 100 was able to report an increase in female held directorships. Despite the number of female executive directorships remaining the same between 2017 and 2018, directorships rose from 294 to 305, a rise of 1.3%. Out of these 100 companies, those in the construction and building sector only featured twice. 

The UK has the lowest percentage of female engineer professionals in Europe, with countries such as Cyprus having nearly three times as many women in similar roles. 

This article will focus on women’s relationship with the STEM and manufacturing industries. 

Untapped Industry

The first point worth considering when assessing why more women are moving into the industry is how much on an untapped one it is. A 2016 survey found how manufacturing had the largest pool of untapped talent, simply because there were very few women in the roles previously. Not only is there an abundance of female staff available, they are also highly qualified, most possessing not only a bachelor’s but a supplementary master’s degree.

Unfortunately, 51 per cent of women who are employed within this area have commented on how they have been treated worse, simply due to their gender. This moves away from stereotypes however and into a dangerous position of discrimination. Women being in these roles has proved to be beneficial not only in plugging the gender gap, but also for the company’s profitability themselves. Research suggest that every 10 per cent increase in gender diversity relates to a 3.5 percent increase in gross profit.

Managing director of Hilti, Marci Bonham proposes, ‘that supporting women as they take their first management steps within the industry will have a positive impact overall.’  

The Shine Theory

The workplace can be a hard place for anyone starting new, but for a woman starting off in a new role surrounded by mainly men — well the aforementioned stats speak for themselves. This is where Shine Theory comes into play and it carries significant relevance to women trying to crack the heavily dominated male industries.

The shine theory focuses on how much women can succeed if they were to befriend other females in the work place, as opposed to battling against them. Effectively, this American concept emphasises how surrounding yourself with positive and successful women will create a positive atmosphere within. 

Development from an early age

A Guardian study from 2018 found that women constitute only 14.4% of all people working in STEM in the UK, despite the fact they make-up almost half of the work force. The best way of encouraging this, is to establish more prominent idol like figures within these subject areas. 

Take for example Brian Cox, it is easier for young boys interested in getting into physics to relate to him. Alternatively, Donna Strickland as physicist from Canada, became only the third woman ever to win the Nobel Prize award for her science. Her name, along with others who achieved spectacular heights needs to be promoted throughout kids of a young age.

This is not to detract from the unimaginable advancements which have been made. In 1918 women over earned the right to vote, while women being accredited for such contributions to science as Donna Strickland, is certainly a recent development.

The rise of Apprenticeships 

The statistics for the sectors women are choosing to carry out apprenticeships in doesn’t bode well in supporting this plug of the gender gap. This highlights that the traditional degree route isn’t for everyone and apprenticeships are gaining popularity once again. With this in mind, we assess two companies who are pushing to increase their number of female apprenticeships:

Lookers

One of Centrica’s Top 100 employers, the national motor retailer Lookers, retailers of Commercial Ford vehicles, launched its female apprentice network last year. The scheme is based around setting up regular meetings between female apprentices, providing them with the opportunity to share their new-found knowledge and experiences.

British Gas

The energy provider has placed emphasis on getting women to apply for their apprenticeship scheme by offering examples of applicants with examples of some of their highest achieving female members of staff. They similarly draw upon the fact, that by putting more women into male dominated apprenticeships, the gender pay gap is likely to be bridged.  

Sources:

Attracting Women to the Male Dominated Manufacturing Industry
Beating the Bias: the future is bright for women in male-dominated sectors
THE SHINE THEORY: WHAT IT IS AND WHY YOU NEED IT

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37360233

https://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk/blog/girls-in-apprenticeships-3694

Supermarkets commit to responsible recruitment in supply chains
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Aldi, Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose have joined together as Founding Sponsors of the Responsible Recruitment Toolkit (RRT).

ResponsibleRecruitmentToolkit.org is one-stop, practical capacity building tool supporting businesses to embed responsible recruitment practices in their supply chains.

The creators have mapped relevant global social compliance codes to define 27 responsible recruitment labour standards to cover all stages and elements of labour sourcing and supply.

By joining together as Founding Sponsors, the UK retailers are essentially enabling suppliers to utilise the RRT to build capability, self-assess and report progress across all areas of responsible recruitment.

The Founding Sponsors will also provide their suppliers and wider supply chain service and labour providers with:

  • Free places on a range of face-to-face and online responsible recruitment workshops.
  • Free registration and discounted optional RRT subscriptions enabling full access to the guidance, resources and self-assessment and reporting tool.
  • Discounts on more in-depth responsible recruitment training to further develop knowledge and capacity to address issues in wider supply chains.

In a joint statement, the founding supermarkets said: “As leading supermarkets in the UK, we are pleased to announce this collaboration to support our supply chain to work towards meeting consistent high standards of responsible recruitment. We have joined together as Founding Sponsors of the Responsible Recruitment Toolkit to reach as many suppliers as possible to ensure they have the expert guidance and support needed to meet those standards.”

UK retailers will be contacting their suppliers to encourage them and the labour providers they use to take full advantage of the support and guidance available on ResponsibleRecruitmentToolkit.org.

CILT gears up for Virtual Careers Fair
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The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) will host its second annual Virtual Careers Fair on November 6th.

From the comfort of their own home, students and job-seekers are invited to discover how they can break into the logistics profession by watching a live stream of the event via the Institute’s Facebook page.

CILT says the premise for the event is simple – if you ask a teenager what career they are working towards, the odds of them saying ‘logistics and transport’ are alarmingly slim. It says we’ve all heard of how today’s professionals did not plan to step into logistics and transport; instead, fell into their chosen career. Now, as the skills gap looms, CILT says it’s more important than ever before that the industry stops relying on accidents to deliver the next generation of talented individuals.

Recruiters and industry experts will be on hand to inspire future logisticians and promote the sector to a new wave of professionals. A number of recruiters and organisations will be returning to the small screen, including Sainsbury’s, XPO Logistics, DHL and Gleeson Recruitment have signed up, along with newcomers Rolls-Royce, Kuehne + Nagel, the Royal Air Force, Gefco and more.

Students will be able to interact with these organisations and high-profile industry professionals, at no cost, and will ‘gain a head start in understanding the profession and learn more about the opportunities available within the worlds of logistics and transport’.

Richard Atkinson, Director of Engagement, CILT, said: “The next generation is imperative in any industry, especially in a sector like ours that stands between commerce and chaos, literally keeping the UK moving and underpinning our economy. The success of last year’s Virtual Careers Fair was unprecedented, with more than 1,500 people streaming this ground-breaking event live on Facebook. The future success of our profession relies on how well we communicate the opportunities that exist within logistics and transport. I encourage all of our universities to spread the word of this unique Careers Fair to their students and engage with this vital profession.”