Year In Review Training and Apprenticeships
Year In Review Industry Promotion and the Young Forwarder Network
After a record year in 2021 in respect of number of courses and learners, 2022 proved another busy year for training.
Training With the introduction of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) by HMRC and apprenticeship starts picking up, the team of trainers and support staff were kept on their toes throughout the 12 months. 832 learners took part in tutor-led courses throughout 2022. Some courses were delivered in a face-to-face environment, in Heathrow, Manchester and Anglia, but the convenience of video conferencing seems to be suited to businesses and was the main mode of delivery for BIFA training courses during the year. A big positive for BIFA is its trainers, and the value they bring to delegates is clearly appreciated. We continued to receive fabulous feedback during 2022.
freight forwarding and logistics sector for career opportunities with members of BIFA. The FDP gives participants a three-week employability programme plus an introductory freight and customs training course, delivered by one of BIFA’s team of qualified trainers, before seeking to match the individuals with opportunities within BIFA members. people were able to build up their professional networks in person, something a video conference just does not do. A more formal structure for the regional YFN organising committees, as well as the virtual committee, was introduced with the appointment of a volunteer chair for each. Young Forwarder Network (YFN) The ‘Virtual’ YFN continued to thrive, with online events held roughly every three weeks throughout the year, attracting a healthy audience of individuals. In 2022, the various regional YFN committees wanted to restore face-to-face events in the five regions. This aim was achieved, with at least two events being held in each region, including guest speakers, port tours and a chat show. The number of attendees was generally lower than pre-pandemic events but, more importantly, young
demonstrated the main differences between CHIEF and CDS, with 2,547 learners signing up to this course. This was good to see as the project to put it together took over seven months, so made the effort worthwhile as an additional service for members. Changes were made during the year to some of the administration practices, such as BTEC marking and certifications. A modern, paperless digital badge system was introduced improving the turnaround time for delegate certification tremendously and allowing delegates to share their credentials online. This proved popular with delegates with an 87% acceptance rate versus a national average of 67% for this type of accreditation. Apprenticeships Another positive with the IFFS is that 68% of apprentices who started were under the age of 24, which is considerably higher than the national average across other industries. That said, over 60% are from apprenticeship levy paying companies so with the majority of BIFA members being SMEs there is scope to expand the number of apprentices in this funding band. Since the first apprentice started the IFFS standard in July 2018, there have been 927* starts, but there is so much scope for improving
Our trainers brought the human touch – 84% of learners said they prefer the ‘live’ environment versus eLearning. Of all the courses delivered by BIFA trainers, fewer than 1% of delegates said they wouldn’t recommend the course to others. BIFA continued to invest in the training team with a team of four throughout 2022, each of whom has more than 25 years of freight forwarding experience, bringing their own stories to enrich the experience that BIFA’s practical and pragmatic courses provide. Over 98% of 579 delegates said the trainers’ knowledge was very good or excellent. Unsurprisingly, the course for which we had the most demand was the CDS eLearning course, which
Once again, the YFN provided five young panelists for the seminars at the Multimodal 2022 event, and all did themselves and their employers proud. In the summer, the London Freight Club kindly hosted a YFN table with young people from three different regions attending. Once again, a fabulous opportunity for individuals to meet peers from around the country and network with other industry professionals. These small opportunities provided through the YFN, showed a commitment to promote the industry, and fostered a sense of belonging to a community, of which members can feel part of. In 2022, BIFA continued to encourage all members to publicise the YFN within their own organisations and encourage attendance for personnel development and to ensure that the YFN remains sustainable, fresh and relevant. The intention is to create a pool of talent that had little prior knowledge or experience of the freight sector and help make the delegates work and industry-ready for BIFA members.
Industry Promotion At the end of 2021, BIFA produced a useful guide for members, focusing on school and college engagement. Its intention was to simplify the process and encourage members to build relationships with schools close to where companies or branches are based. Progress has been slow, even in schools where a relationship had been established, however the highlight in 2022 was a dedicated logistics jobs fair at Heathrow. Despite the new COVID-19 variant lingering around, 11 members attended with their own stands, all with
live jobs. Another highlight was a presentation to 400 year 10 and 11 students at the Felixstowe School during National Apprenticeship Week. It is a lot easier than people think connecting with the local school or college which must list the careers lead on their website. It is highly likely that the school / college will have a ready-made list of opportunities in which to get involved. Outside of the very large companies, schools do not know where to start with local business, so it is easier for companies to make the first move. Freight Development Pathway At the end of 2022, BIFA launched a new programme called the Freight Development Pathway (FDP) in partnership with Manpower, one of the world’s leading workforce solutions companies. The aim of the programme is to help identify, attract and train suitable candidates from outside of the
For the 12-month period to 31 October 2022, 251 apprentices started the International Freight Forwarding Specialist (IFFS) standard, versus 155 in the 12 months prior to that * . So, a positive trend, post-pandemic.
this considering that BIFA now has over 1,600 corporate members. Recruitment of apprentices lost around 18 months due to the pandemic, but numbers recovered in 2022, and it would be good to see an even bigger increase in the year following this report. The launch of the Generation Logistics awareness campaign in 2022 can only help raise the profile of the sector and BIFA became one of the supporting trade associations of this fabulous initiative. * Source: Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, to 31st October 2022
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BIFA Annual Report & Accounts 2022 | bifa.org
bifa.org | BIFA Annual Report & Accounts 2022
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