School leavers in Birmingham are being offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to become the ‘leaders of the future’ at the UK’s largest independent freight forwarder, Europa Worldwide Group.
A representative from Europa has already visited Plantsbrook School and Bishop Walsh Catholic School, both in Sutton Coldfield, to introduce the programme to potential candidates who have until mid-July to apply.
Europa has just launched its Rapid Career Development Programme (RCDP) which has been created to recruit passionate people straight from school who will ultimately earn upwards of £40,000 per year with a company car and other benefits. The £180m turnover specialist road, air & sea and warehouse operator employs 900 staff across 16 sites in the UK including Birmingham, plus Belgium, Czech Republic and Hong Kong.
Europa Road’s Birmingham Branch Manager, Sally Watson, said she was looking forward to meeting the ‘brightest and best’ students the two schools had to offer to join her fast paced and ambitious team based in Minworth.
She said: “Think about the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the stuff you use every day – it all needs transporting from somewhere! This is what Europa does – it’s very likely that you’re wearing something right now that has travelled across Europe on one of our trucks. Our services are vital – we’re the glue that joins every bit of the supply chain together.
“This is a great option for any ambitious students who are looking for an alternative to university and is a fantastic way for Europa to develop people who could be the future leaders of the company.”
The RCDP piloted in Nottingham where 18-year-old Max Holbrook was the first candidate to be appointed. Max, like the successful applicants in Birmingham, learns on the job from experienced Account Managers. The four-year programme will see the new starters progress from junior/ trainee team members to experienced Account Managers earning upwards of £40,000 per year, with a company car phone and laptop plus annual performance related bonuses.
The initiative was designed and shaped by Europa’s Managing Director Andrew Baxter, who believes ‘earning while you learn’ is a sure-fire way to quickly progress up the career ladder, without being saddled with thousands of pounds of university debt. Andrew took the direct route into the haulage industry himself, working for his family business from the age of 18 – and is now at the helm of the UK’s fastest growing independent leader in logistics.
He said: “We’re thrilled that our RCDP has been so well received in Nottingham and are now excited to roll it out across our other Road branches, starting with Birmingham. We aim to recruit one or two people to the programme per branch this year and I genuinely believe these people will become future leaders of our business – because we are putting so much time and effort into finding exactly the right people for the role.
“We want to attract highly ambitious and focused individuals who are keen to learn and earn, to hit the ground running and to start progressing up the career ladder from as early as 18-years-old.”
The aim of the RCDP is to attract young people who are savvy, full of common sense and eager to learn – with the pilot set to be rolled out to Europa Road’s13 other UK branches this year.
Europa Worldwide Group is a specialist road, air & sea and warehouse operator which employs 900 staff across its 16 sites in the UK plus Belgium, Czech Republic and Hong Kong. Europa has ambitious plans to expand to a £400m turnover operator in the next four years through a combination of organic growth and further acquisitions.
