Rhenus Home Delivery UK has enjoyed +350% growth since 2020, and will officially open its new 258,000 sqft facility in Magna Park, Lutterworth this year – which will function as its national distribution centre, incorporating a state-of-the-art training centre. Furniture News asked CEO Vincent Riley for the lowdown on the fresh new face of fulfilment …
How do you plan to build upon your already-impressive growth figures?
The overall growth of the business will depend upon our five-year business plan, and the five pillars of sustainability, training and development, NPS (net promoter score), ENPS (employee net promoter score), and digitalisation.
Within these pillars are specific, target-driven measures that align with the Rhenus Group strategy and our 2020-25 business plan. We’ll have some exciting news later this year regarding some new services …
How are these ‘pillars’ reflected in your development right now?
Sustainable logistics remains a top priority at Rhenus Home Delivery UK, as we strive for a net-zero sustainable future. The new centre represents our continued investment in training and development, health and safety and customer service excellence. The ongoing commitment to our customers and clients is maintained through Trustpilot management, which provides valuable insights into key strategic focus areas.”
Employee surveys have also proven to be an effective and necessary tool for understanding the challenges faced by the team – the personal development and happiness of our employees are of huge importance.
Last, but not least, digitalisation is always at the forefront of our thought process, as we continuously explore new methods of automation, and streamlining the customer journey.
What is the importance of training and development in the logistics industry?
The training and development of all employees should be at the core of every business – and especially the logistics industry, which is a specialised one. At the new training and development centre at Rhenus Home Delivery UK, we intend to offer enhanced courses to our staff, such as blue-collar courses for warehouse operatives (including Six Sigma process development), as well as courses for white-collar professionals such as Prince2 for our project managers and more role-specific courses that will be provided by departmental leaders.
Are you targeting any new sectors this year?
We work extremely closely with the bed industry, brown-boxed furniture and the cabinet industry, and any of those products are along the considered purchase line. But an area we’d be extremely interested in is the distressed purchase sector.
Our new warehousing capabilities at Magna Park will enable the storage and delivery of products across a wide range of industries and we’re currently considering a variety of possibilities.
How is Rhenus’ global network evolving?
I’m excited to announce that we’ve joined forces with Grupo Totalmédia to expand our European network. In December, we acquired shares in the Iberian logistics group, and are now the European market leader in two-man, last-mile handling for heavy/bulky goods. With this shareholding partnership, we’re really opening up Spain and Portugal for our clients.
