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the role. Irene is now a customer services advisor. Besides her core responsibility of dealing with


people, she also enjoys learning about all that lies behind transporting goods from A to B – something that, like most people, she had not really considered before gaining experience of the logistics industry. “It is a very interesting job and I think once


you are in logistics, there is no going back,” Irene said. “It is quite a small industry and everyone knows each other, so it is easier to move around within it. “But I want to stay at Cargonet: it is a very


nice environment to work in. The managing director is very approachable and we all work very well together. Our customers respond well to that. “The job itself is interesting because of our


Every day in logistics brings a different challenge, Irene notes


Building customer relationships


An adventurous spirit brought Irene Borghi from Italy to England nine years ago, and recently led to her becoming a finalist in BIFA’s Young Freight Forwarder of the Year Award category


Irene’s path into the logistics industry was somewhat circuitous. Her baccalaureate was in languages, economy and finance. She began studying economy and finance at university but, as she put it, her heart was not really in it. “It was not really for me – I wanted to study


languages,” she said. “So, I applied to join the army and also for an au pair job in England, thinking I would just go for the first opportunity that came up. I applied for the au pair job on 23 February 2009 and I think I booked my flight to England on 1 March, and that was it.” After that initial period as an au pair, Irene


worked as a capacity controller for an airline, where she subsequently took on additional responsibilities following a round of redundancies. She joined Cargonet in 2014, about


July 2018


18 months after the company was founded, as a customer services assistant. It was the managing director (with whom she had previously worked) who approached her for


relationships with our customers and because no two days are the same – there are always new challenges, things to learn, different circumstances and ways to approach them. Still, the job could be similar at another company, especially one in the same industry – but the team makes a difference, for sure,” she said with a smile.


Going the extra mile Irene completed a dangerous goods course a few months ago and is considering a BTEC qualification at the moment, probably focusing on air freight. However, she noted that Cargonet’s services are in high demand and it can be challenging to have someone out of the office, “so we will have to see” when it will be possible for her to embark on any further study. Meanwhile, she will continue to work hard to


provide excellent customer service. While her English is certainly fluent, she sometimes finds it useful to switch to Spanish or her native Italian. “For instance, we once had a courier job from


Rome where the shipper was not really able to communicate in English, so our customer contacted us for help and I gave the shipper a call. “Speaking several languages is handy,


especially on the courier side of things. You can build better relationships with customers when you speak their language.” Going the extra mile in customer relations


seems to come naturally to Irene. Regarding the BIFA awards, for example, she said she was somewhat unsure about entering “because I always thought I was just doing my job, but the MD and my manager encouraged me to have a go. I am glad I did it: the whole experience has been really good and it is not something that happens to everyone.”


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