NOVUS wins second award within a week

NOVUS, the partnership between leading companies and the University of Huddersfield to attract and develop the next generation of supply chain professionals, has won the ‘Development of People’ Award (sponsored by Syncreon) in the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT) Annual Awards for Excellence 2014.

This is the second award win for NOVUS within a week, having also been named ‘The Wincanton Supply Chain Innovation Project of the Year’ at the Hermes Retail Week Supply Chain Awards 2014, held on 25 September.

The prestigious CILT Annual Awards Dinner gathered over 500 of the UK’s leading professionals in transport, the supply chain and transport planning at the Lancaster London Hotel on 2 October. The event was chaired by CILT President Jim Spittle FCILT, and hosted by TV presenter Chris Hollins.

Andy Kaye, CEO of BiS Henderson and founder of the NOVUS scheme, led members of the NOVUS team on stage to receive the award. He said, “We are thrilled and very proud to win this CILT award. It is another tremendous recognition of the important work that NOVUS’ is doing to inspire tomorrow’s supply chain leaders.”

The citation for the CILT award said: “The UK Logistics industry employs 2.3 million people but there is a demographic imbalance and recognition that the industry is not attracting and retaining the right numbers, and quality, of talented managers to keep pace with current, and future, demand. A team of senior industry professionals has sought to address this by establishing a “sponsored” degree programme, with mentors for each student, paid industrial placements and a guaranteed job for all students who obtain a 2:1. To date, 26 companies have offered support, 22 students have started on the pilot course at Huddersfield, and over 2000 are seeking 2015 entry.”

Fingers are now crossed for the hat-trick as NOVUS has also been nominated for the Supply Chain Standard European Supply Chain Excellence Awards – in the category of ‘Training & Professional Development’, which will be announced on 5 November.

The NOVUS Scheme, now in its second year, offers two specialist degrees in supply chain management at the University of Huddersfield. The scheme is backed by 26 companies including household names such as Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, ASOS, Wincanton, DHL, Network Rail and Premier Foods. For further information, contact novus@hud.ac.uk or telephone 01484 473346 or visit www.novus.uk.com.