Multimodal 2024 at NEC Birmingham

Multimodal 2024

Last week, Victoria Pittman of Granby took the opportunity to attend Multimodal 2024 at NEC Birmingham, and it was a great event. With 280 exhibitors and a whopping 13,003 attendees, Hall 4 was buzzing with energy and innovation.

Multimodal

Granby choose to attend Multimodal because of the pivotal place it holds in the logistics calendar. Since 2008, Multimodal has been successfully building a vibrant supply chain and logistics community, bringing together shippers, retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, exporters, and the suppliers who support them through the UK’s biggest logistics expo. This premier trade show runs the gamut from awards and networking events to expansive expo spaces showcasing the best and brightest in trucking, freight, and rail industries.

Celebrating logistics in all its forms, Multimodal looks to create events that help businesses grow and discover untapped potential. As the industry’s annual meeting place for cargo owners, shippers, and other supply chain professionals, Multimodal offers a unique space to innovate, connect, and make logistics more sustainable. With over 300 companies exhibiting, the event provides solutions across all modes of transport, along with the latest technological advances, to help make supply chains more sustainable, cost-effective, and efficient.

Royal Visit

Several highlights made the show truly memorable. One standout moment was the visit by HRH, The Princess Royal. As the Patron of TransAid, a charity dedicated to providing safe and sustainable transport in developing countries, her presence was both inspiring and a testament to the importance of the cause.

TransAid

Founded by Save the Children, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), and its Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, Transaid shares over 25 years’ worth of expertise in 23 countries with partners and governments – supporting people to build the skills they need to transform their own lives. They are a unique, passionate organisation that works with partners and governments to solve transport challenges in sub-Saharan Africa.

Multimodal 2024 also helped to raise more than £18,000 for TransAid programmes. At the Awards dinner, Transaid’s CEO Caroline Barber, who recently returned from a trip to Zambia with many attending corporate partners, thanked attendees for their continued support of Transaid’s work. Caroline gave updates on Transaid’s programmes, including that over the last twelve months, Transaid and partners have trained almost 11,000 truck drivers, bus drivers, forklift operators, trainers and motorcycle riders – a 45 percent increase on the previous year.

Presentations and discussions

The exhibition also featured multiple free-to-attend conference streams that covered crucial themes such as sustainability, resilience, technology, and people. These sessions were a treasure trove of knowledge, with presentations by many organisations including the UKWA, standing out as particularly noteworthy.

UKWA

Talking of the UKWA, on the third day of the exhibition, the focus was on skills, apprenticeships, upskilling, and education. This was particularly pertinent for Victoria, who, in her capacity as a UKWA Director, is deeply involved in the UKWA’s 2024 Year of Warehousing initiative, which has as one area of focus, employment opportunities in the warehousing sector. Specifically, the UKWA is looking to educate the broader community and stakeholders about the numerous job opportunities available within the industry, including roles for job seekers in our disability communities. As part of the broader picture, the UKWA talk of how the warehousing sector is helping to deliver social mobility across the UK with job opportunities available for people of all backgrounds.

The UKWA, in its meetings earlier this year at Westminster, have called on government to be more aware of the sector’s future skills requirements. Calls for reform include modernising apprenticeships by adding the new CPC qualification to the existing L3 standard and allowing the trailblazer group to identify short courses which can be eligible for levy funding. as well as ways to provide better pathways into the sector. Above all, the UKWA is looking for more focus on the importance of warehousing and logistics to the UK employment market.

Fagan & Whalley

Victoria attended the event alongside colleague Laura Fagan from Fagan & Whalley, a longstanding Transport & Logistics supply chain partner of Granby. Fagan & Whalley have almost 100 years of experience in transporting goods on the roads of the UK, managing a substantial fleet of vehicles from our strategically located depots across Lancashire and the Midlands.

What we take out from the event

In conclusion, Multimodal 2024 was a resounding success, offering a platform for industry leaders, innovators, and stakeholders to come together and share insights, celebrate achievements, and discuss the future of transport and logistics.

“Another great event, one that makes the return journey on the M6 worthwhile! This year certainly highlighted the importance of collaboration and continuous learning in driving our industry forward. Not just that, it also underscored the critical role of sustainable and inclusive practices in shaping the future.” Victoria Pittman

We look forward to seeing the positive impacts of the connections and knowledge gained at Multimodal 2024, and we are excited about the future developments in the warehousing and logistics sector.