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BIFA Awards
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Starting from scratch In the 2021 BIFA Awards, BIFA presented a Special Recognition Award in the Young Freight Forwarder category for the first time. It went to Corey Chambers, whose success in setting up a brand-new service impressed colleagues, customers and the BIFA judges alike
YOUNG FREIGHT FORWARDER OF THE YEAR AWARD SPONSOR
Virgin Atlantic Cargo is proud to sponsor BIFA’s ‘Young Freight Forwarder Award’ to recognise and encourage the next generation of industry leaders. As well as rewarding the progress of the best young people, this award helps to highlight the vital role freight forwarders play in the growth and development of our industry.
Since joining Ital Logistics in 2016, Corey Chambers has never looked back. “Ital was one of my customers where I worked before,” he said. After moving to Ital, “I bounced around various departments until 2017, when the opportunity arose to start a French service from scratch”. Originally starting with cargo to the Lyon and Marseille areas working with Fatton Transports, he soon set up a similar operation with a partner in Paris so as to serve the whole of France. Between MTLS and Fatton, Corey now has a strong, competitive service that can also cover Morocco and Tunisia. “When I started the French service, I questioned whether I was good enough,” he said. “To think back to that and see what we have achieved is amazing; I thought we would get there eventually, but we have already surpassed some other services in terms of profitability. “In February 2021, I was promoted to French route manager due to the hard work and long hours I had put into the service.” Expansion Corey also inherited Ital’s Portuguese service from its Iberian department and implemented a change in partner in the Porto region in 2021, in order to provide a top-level service with Customs included. Furthermore, he has successfully expanded the French service into Germany and the Benelux region – where long transit times and late deliveries have been a source of frustration. Ital’s entry to the market has therefore been welcomed, with some of its existing customers elsewhere coming on board. “It is early days, but it is going well so far,” he said.
Corey's daughter waves to the camera while out hiking with her dad
Training new staff When BIFAlink spoke to Corey in late February, he was about to welcome a new team member and was excited about training him up. He will also be heavily involved in training three new apprentices at Ital. Corey and one of his colleagues are determined to mentor apprentices until one of them wins BIFA’s Apprentice of the Year Award, he joked. Meanwhile, Corey gained an assistant in 2021, who has “come on in leaps and bounds” under his guidance and allowed him to focus more on development. As for his own learning, Corey has set himself the goal of speaking French by the time he reaches the age of 31 – and who knows, perhaps other languages besides. “I want to be able to show our customers I am making the effort,” he said.
Corey Chambers
Corey’s ambitions to grow the services under his direction have come to fruition since he won BIFA’s award for Special Recognition in the Young Freight Forwarder category. “Even though I did not win the actual YFF Award, people were really rooting for me and it was great to have their support,” he said. “In the next 10 years, I would like to become a director at Ital.” Asked what qualities he feels are most important to succeed in logistics, Corey considered: “If I was to give advice to other young people starting out in the freight business, I would say take your time, stay calm and think about things rather than panicking or rushing into decisions. If you build good relationships, everyone can help each other.”
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May 2022
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