A leading local logistics firm is celebrating the success of one of its young members of staff, who has been recognised nationally. The specialist 3PL division of Europa Worldwide Group, Europa Warehouse, is hailing the success of Corby-based Automation Area Manager Toby Hankins on his ‘Young Employee of the Year’ award at the national 2024 Warehousing Association (UKWA)’s Awards for Excellence.

Europa’s 750k sq.ft Corby warehouse, was constructed and commissioned at the height of the pandemic and is based at Midlands Logistics Park, employing local people from across Northamptonshire.

UKWA’s Awards for Excellence is an opportunity to recognise the achievements and innovations of the warehousing sector. The event, which took place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, was hosted by Clare Bottle, Chief Executive of UKWA and celebrity guest speaker Alastair Campbell.

Four members of Europa’s warehouse team in Corby attended the event, including Toby Hankins, who had been nominated by his colleagues.

Toby started working for Europa aged 18, in 2020, just after the site opened, as a warehouse colleague employed through an agency. Since then, he has progressed on to the role of Warehouse Team Manager, and has recently  been promoted to Automation Area Manager, taking ownership of several contracts and managing operations through Corby’s state-of-the-art shared-user automation system.

Toby said: “I wasn’t expecting to win, and it was very humbling to be around so many influential logistics experts. It was a great feeling to be up and be recognised for the work I love.

“I now have new responsibilities and a new job role and I’m looking forward to the next challenge.”

Andy Kay, Warehouse Operations Manager at Europa Warehouse in Corby, said: “Toby has really developed into this mature person, who has gained such a confidence in networking with others in the industry – we really are extremely proud of him.

“He has taken his extra responsibilities in his stride, demonstrating his competence and knowledge of 3PL fulfilment. Now, in his new automation role, he will play an integral role in the planning, forecasting and recovery of our automated 3PL fulfilment services. The Corby team and I trust him implicitly, and he has also built great relationships with our customers.”

Toby’s promotion means he oversees operations through Europa’s £11m in high-tech automation system, managing incidents and downtime, and helping the Corby team to deliver an agile approach with optimal output.

Toby is one of many young ‘rising stars’ at Europa, who have chosen to pursue careers in the UK’s most dynamic sector. As silver partners of the nationwide campaign Generation Logistics, Europa Worldwide Group is committed to celebrating and inspiring the next generation of industry leaders.

Alongside Europa Warehouse’s other sites in Birmingham and Dartford, last year the award-winning 3PL was recognised as Big Logistics Company of the Year at the Northamptonshire Logistics Awards. Europa Warehouse has over one million sq. ft combined of dedicated warehouse and logistics space across its three sites, and recently celebrated £11m of new contracts.

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