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London Heathrow remains main option for British trade
The sudden closure of Europe’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, following a fire at a near-by electrical substation had a profound
1.4B AED Group Turnover
456,000 Shipments Per Year
Achieving international commercial success takes more than a smart business plan – it calls for a culture of inspiration, ambition and expansion throughout an organisation.
This is demonstrated by the growth of Europa Worldwide Group, the UK’s largest independent logistics company. Since entrepreneur Andrew Baxter acquired the company in 2013, Europa has undergone remarkable growth and transformation. With a rapidly expanding road freight operation, an air and sea freight division and a third-party warehouse operation, turnover has more than tripled to over £300m and the workforce has gone from 460 employees to 1,300, including 200 overseas employees.
Combined with operations in 17 sites across the UK and Ireland and teams in Belgium, the Netherlands and seven other territories, Baxter’s vision for international growth has become a reality.
Core to the company’s success is a belief in the power of people. “My view is that strong cultural values are globally applicable,” says Baxter, who is now chief executive. “Our values drive the business. These centre on creating a positive work environment, treating people with respect and demanding high standards. That positive growth agenda applies as much in China as it does in South Africa, Ireland or in any market.”
Offering staff a culture of inspiration is central to creating a unified organisation focused on high performance. Shortly after acquiring Europa, Baxter sought to define the values that would underpin the culture. At the heart of the company’s growth mentality is empowering staff to be brave in their decision-making.
“We will take the biggest, boldest steps that we can,” says Baxter. “We encourage our managers to think with a growth mindset and to do the maximum that they can in terms of opening up new overseas territories,” he adds.
Steady expansion has the benefit of increasing staff commitment since they stand to share in the benefits of growth. “If the organisation is growing and every four or five years it doubles in size, that doubles the number of opportunities for our people,” says Baxter. This gives talent genuine prospects of promotion.
Managing talent on an international scale can be particularly challenging given differences in culture, regulations and time zones. Leading HR, payroll and finance software provider MHR supports organisations during periods of international expansion – whether that is global scaling or international recruitment. Its cloud-based People First platform allows employees around the world to access its services 24/7 from any location.
Company newsfeeds, personal profiles and ‘communities’ help to maintain company culture and connection, while learning pathways, internal job boards, sentiment trackers and real-time feedback support employee growth and wellbeing across the organisation – no matter how much it grows.
Supporting the emotional, mental health and personal needs of staff is vital for a healthy workplace. Europa Worldwide Group encourages what it calls an “inspiring, good-humoured and driven work environment”. This is built through a culture of mutual aid where colleagues help each other to excel.
“Our culture is one where we create management structures that delegate responsibilities. We do not have a culture of working extremely long hours,” says Baxter.
Another of Europa’s core values is encouraging staff to ask ‘dumb’ questions. By asking detailed questions, staff develop a grasp of why things are being done and this helps them to get on board with decision making. Likewise, Europa encourages plain speaking and asks staff to avoid jargon, because this can cloud effective communication.
“We are quite restless in our ambition to grow and scale the company,” says Baxter. “And I think the environment is changing faster today than it has ever changed.” With the ambition to grow comes a willingness to take risks, while external volatility means that businesses must prioritise long-term thinking.
Baxter recognises that many businesses are worried about damaging their short-term profits by making investment decisions that will take years to pay back.
“A lot of companies are stuck because they won’t put the cart before the horse and take the bold steps that unlock that growth, whereas we have constantly taken those decisions, which have pushed us into new markets,” he says.
Given the rapid transformation sweeping global markets, and technology disruptors such as AI, it is more important than ever to encourage a resilient business culture that thinks ahead and invests in its people in order to unlock new growth opportunities.
“How can you expect to inspire talent and keep good people if you are locked in a short-term view?” wonders Baxter. “Rather than just focusing on this year’s profitability, you need to be engaging in those conversations about what the future looks like, and how you succeed in the new world that’s emerging.”
The sudden closure of Europe’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, following a fire at a near-by electrical substation had a profound
As it celebrates its third anniversary, Europa Worldwide Group’s dedicated Europa Air & Sea team in Shanghai has already established