iForce wins UKWA Award for second consecutive year

For the second consecutive year iForce has won a UKWA Award for Excellence. After winning the 2007 Team of the Year Award, this year the United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA) named John Tombs of iForce Warehouse Person of the Year for his outstanding performance and commitment over the last 12 months.

John undertook the huge task of setting up the new John Lewis Direct fulfilment centre in Redditch, prior to the Christmas peak as a satellite site. This was at very short notice, as iForce had to react quickly to give John Lewis extra capacity due to a massive sales uplift, which was simply not possible on the existing site. John was instrumental in the 5 year business plan and forecasting for the new site and demonstrated considerable project management and planning skills, working with contractors and the client. He then adapted quickly back to an operations focused role as he staffed the new 232,000 sq ft operating centre to fulfil 300,000 customer orders from mid October 2007 to March 2008. From delivery of the Christmas volume, John was instrumental in the planning and execution of the remaining migration of 250,000 units of stock from the old site, with successful completion by the middle of April 2008.

John's operation ability to innovate and demonstrate new ways of working have increased productivity by 24% year on year, with a largely new work force, while service levels remained significantly above customer KPIs, in terms of on-time despatch and stock accuracy.

“We are extremely proud that John has won this prestigious award. He's a very worthy Warehouse Person of the Year having gone out of his way to demonstrate the best management behaviour while achieving a phenomenal task,” commented Mark Hewitt, CEO of iForce. “John is a testament to what can be achieved with dogged determination to get results, a flair for managing people and a little bit of panache!”

www.iforcegroup.com

Editor's Notes:
The United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA) held its 9th annual Awards for Warehousing alongside the Annual Luncheon, held this year in the Ballroom Suite of the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London on 2 July 2008. The event hosted over 400 attendees from the UK's logistics industry.

iForce is one of the UK's leading e-fulfilment and returns logistics businesses, offering end-to-end solutions to their clients' business challenges. Founded in 1998, iForce has pioneered the development of traditional fulfilment skills, processes and technologies for the e-commerce world. iForce's other services include strategic planning & consultancy for e-retailers, e-analysis, stock management, customer service and logistics. iForce has approximately 400 staff and over 1.2 million square feet of warehouse space in seven UK locations serving the UK and Continental Europe. Clients today include: John Lewis Direct, House of Fraser, Boots.com and Great Little Trading Company for e-fulfilment, Tesco and House of Fraser for Reverse Logistics and Green King and Bentley for Direct Marketing.