Granby embrace International Women’s Day 2024

Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress

Granby embrace International Women’s Day on March 8th. Each year this event recognises the achievements of women and advocates for gender equality. In 2024, the United Nations has chosen the theme “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress” to highlight the importance of empowering women and promoting their well-being in all aspects of life, including the workplace.

l to r: Caroline Noblett, Jo Kimber and Victoria Pittman

Granby, as an employee-owned business that values diversity and equality, embraces this theme wholeheartedly. With women in leadership positions, a commitment to equal opportunities, and a development program focused on women, we like to think Granby stands as an excellent example of progress and inclusivity.

Women in Leadership Positions at Granby

Granby Leadership Team

Granby has made significant strides in promoting gender equality within the organisation, especially through this century. The business boasts a particularly strong representation of women in leadership positions, despite working in an industry, 3^rd party logistics, historically seen as male dominated. Our Chief Executive, Managing Director, and Head of Client Services/Business Development are all women. The leadership team itself is split equally between men and women.

Jo Kimber, Chief Executive, Granby

Recently, our CEO, Jo Kimber reflected on her own experience at Granby.

“I don’t think I had to break any glass ceilings when I joined Granby. Fortunately, Stephen (Stephen Bentley, previous owner and Chair at Granby) recruited me and he had a very open approach, for him the best person for the job was the best person for the job, regardless of gender or anything else. He was very supportive when I had my son and encouraged flexibility in my working hours when I returned from maternity leave.” Jo Kimber, Chief Executive at Granby.

Client Facing Roles

Granby’s commitment to gender diversity extends to client-facing roles as well. The majority of key client servise positions at Granby are held by women. Clients recognise this inclusive approach. They appreciate Granby’s emphasis on female staff and have remarked upon the positive impact it has on the company’s culture.

In our annual Client Satisfaction Study one client said “I love how much emphasis they put on female staff. I’ve never been to a warehouse which was full of women packing and then when I sat down in a boardroom, it was also full of women. I just think it’s really cool they’re doing that. I know it’s not like that in our warehouse, we have women of course, but not like Granby. To see all the women working together has been really cool”.

Kayleigh Scott, Client Services Manager

And Kayleigh Scott, our Client Services Manager, who heads up a mostly female team who deal directly with clients every hour of every day sees this as a positive.

“Our client services team is made-up mostly, although not exclusively, of women. We know logistics may have been male dominated in the past but I truly believe that is no longer the case. With ever more women embracing stem subjects school and university, I really hope that more young women will consider 3PL as a positive career choice. We are all delighted that Granby embrace International Women’s Day” Kayleigh Scott, Client Services Manager, Granby

Kayleigh is also a key member of our Stepping Stones leadership and development program.

Emma Verkeik reinforces Kayleigh’s view that the challenge is to support young women who may consider 3PL as a positive career choice.

Emma Verkeik, BCMPA

“We need to do more to make sure that jobs in the supply chain and co packing sectors are more visible as viable career options for women. One of the barriers to entry is that jobs in these arenas are not visible to a female audience and we need to address this by promoting the roles and opportunities within the sector. Whilst there are more women being employed, there is still much more that needs to be done.” Emma Verkeik, BCMPA

Victoria Pittman, Head of Client Relationships/Business Development

Victoria Pittman heads up the Client facing teams at Granby. Victoria says Granby’s commitment to equality means the business is better for clients.

“Granby embrace International Womens Day as we have a commitment to gender equality and diversity. This is delivered throughout our business. We are fortunate to have had Jo Kimber as our owner, MD and now CEO serving as a terrific role model for other women in our business, and industry; we now have a management team that is split equally between men and women. Granby embrace the different perspectives and experiences all of our employees bring to the table as we deliver creative and effective solutions for our clients.” Victoria Pittman

Stepping Stones Development Program

Granby embrace International Women’s Day in many ways throughout the year. Granby’s dedication to gender equality extends beyond our leadership team and is visible throughout our business. We emphasise our dedication to providing equal opportunities for both genders, with Lisa Widdowson from Operations and Kayleigh Scott and Niamh Powton from Client Support working together on our Stepping Stones program (our leadership development program).

“We believe that only by investing in the growth and development of women within our business can we ensure everyone has the necessary support and resources to excel in their careers. This inclusive approach not only strengthens the business’s talent pool but also fosters a diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone’s contributions are valued.” Caroline Noblett, Managing Director, Granby

What is the internal view on equality of opportunity for men and women in Granby?

Talking with two of the leadership team we learned that within Granby, the issue of gender equality has been addressed.

“I feel that if we asked any employee about resources specifically for women, they wouldn’t know what they were. That is because everyone here is treated exactly the same. As a business and leadership team we understand that we are all held accountable and responsible based solely on our job role and skill, regardless of gender.” Caroline Noblett, Managing Director, Granby

Andrew Gregson, Operations Director within Granby shares Caroline’s outlook and speaks from many years personal experience in the business.

Andrew Gregson, Operations Director

“I see each of our team members as individuals, all with their own, unique qualities. I have always thoroughly enjoyed working alongside women in leadership roles. At Granby, the women on our leadership team are first and foremost strong, effective leaders as well as being really great colleagues.” Andrew Gregson, Operations Director

How is working with Granby impacted by the women in leadership and operational roles?

For International Women’s Day, we talked with a number of partners about what the day means for the industry. We also took the opportunity to ask how working with the women in Granby has been for them.

l to r: Caroline Noblett, Amanda Meachin (Community & Business Partners), Victoria Pittman, Jaydee Davis (Community & Business Partners)

First of all, we talked with Amanda Meachin, Chief Executive at Community & Business Partners. CBP are a VCFSE Sector organisation, specialising in waste reduction, and repurpose, reuse, or recycle goods, merchandise, foodstuffs and materials for distribution to the local communities. Granby, as a contract packing business with storage and distribution services, needs on occasion to look at end of life recycling and reusage strategies for stock. This is where CBP come in.

“We have worked with Granby Marketing Services for over 20 years, and in that time, they have always had a very strong female leadership who have always been a pleasure to deal with. When we have reached out to Granby for their support, they are always very quick to respond. We have worked with women from their Senior Management Team, Middle Management and Project Managers, all of whom are great to work with, are keen to understand our offer and are always willing to help and get involved, often acting as our advocate to their Corporate Clients and Customers.” Amanda Meachin, Chief Executive Officer, Community & Business Partners

Emma Verkeik of the BCMPA (The Association for Contract Manufacturing, Packing, Fulfilment & Logistics) had this to say about her experience of working directly with Granby.

“Granby have many more women in positions of management than most companies that I come across within the contract pack/contract manufacturing space – but they are also committed to a community based employment approach. I know that Granby prides itself on being an equal opportunity employer that is inclusive and welcomes diversity within the workplace to help their staff to fulfil their full potential.” Emma Verkeik, BCMPA

Work still needs to be done, in the UK and globally

Jo Kimber remembers when she was first in a leadership position in the business. back then she was appreciative of the support she received from her colleagues.

“Stephen would reiterate to suppliers, partners and on occasion, clients, that I was the decision maker and that they should be speaking to me. This was a really frustrating time, and in some cases we no longer work with the client and or /supplier in question. This is simply because it became clear we didn’t align on our values. In my time as MD and now as CEO, I do feel that I’ve continued in this vein, and it is great that we have created a flexible working environment supportive of women – particularly working mums.” Jo Kimber, Chief Executive, Granby

Granby recognise that achieving gender equality beyond our own business requires joint action in a number of areas. These include investing in women as a human rights issue, ending poverty, implementing gender-responsive financing, shifting to a greener economy and a more caring society, and supporting positive women role models. Granby remain committed to contributing to these areas and to helping make a positive impact.

The future for women in Packing and Logistics

Here we turned first to our colleagues in industry leadership positions. Starting with Clare Bottle from the UKWA. Earlier this year Clare was able to visit Granby as part of the UKWA Year of Warehousing. Following on from discussions on the day she had this to say about building awareness. Especially around warehouse distribution, And especially about encouraging women into the industry through multiple channels.

“Improving diversity will be easier if we start by attracting more people into warehousing in the first place. UKWA is playing its part by shining a light on the critical role our sector plays in the economy, to win over politicians and the media. Alongside government and the whole industry, we also continue to support the vital Generation Logistics campaign. The more case-studies we can share about fabulous warehousing careers, the better!” Clare Bottle, UKWA

Emma Verkeik at the BCMPA has positive things to say about allowing for more women to occupy positions of change.

“I am pleased to report that there are many changes happening in the contract manufacturing and packing environments from when I first started in the industry almost 30 years ago. The progress may not be as quick as we would like, but now through a combination of progressive thinking and social governance, I believe that the historical imbalances will start to improve to allow for more females in position of change.” Emma Verkeik, BCMPA

The Future?

For the last word, we now turn to our CEO, Jo Kimber.

I think it’s an industry that suits our skill-sets, our nurturing ways which lends itself to exceptional customer services and I’m therefore really optimistic that the 3PL solutions and logistics industry is a place where I see females will flourish.” Jo Kimber, Chief Executive, Granby