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Colin is enjoying the chance to


spend more time on his farm


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aspects of logistics and physical transport by sea, road, air and rail. Other topics include costs related to movement; Customs procedures; Customs entries; duty and tax calculations; ways of delaying or avoiding duty and VAT; insurance; air cargo security; customer service; documentation; and computing. “Now, 30 years later almost to the day [since


setting up the business], many of my friends will tell you that it cannot have been too bad and I certainly have not starved!” he quipped.


A lifetime of learning


Colin Joyce of Stansted Training Services received a Lifetime Achievement Award – not a regular BIFA category – earlier this year in recognition of the huge legacy of knowledge he has imparted delivering courses on behalf of BIFA. He looks back on some of the changes he has seen over several decades in logistics


Like so many others in the industry, Colin began his freight career by accident. Having always had an interest in geography, he says his careers master suggested logistics as an option, and since then Colin has never looked back. “I started with Thomas Meadows Co Ltd and


was made redundant on the company being taken over some 25 years later, by which time I was one of the board directors. During that time I worked in several different areas of the UK, including Southampton, where we were ship agents for a number of lines. As part of that role I met my wife, who was the port director’s secretary.” So why did Colin stay in this industry? He


outlined: “The days are always different and challenges are many, and problem solving has always been something I enjoy. Being a part-time farmer and ‘bodger’ I am used to setting up unusual solutions for what seem intractable problems.” Of all the responsibilities he had at Meadows,


though, it was training that Colin most enjoyed – so it was natural that he should set up a business in this field on finding himself unemployed. Stansted Training Services’ courses include all


August 2018


Colin Joyce of Stansted Training Services


Changes Colin completed his first Customs import entry on 3 January, 1964, for a trailer load of foam plastic from the Netherlands. He remembered: “The invoice used Dutch guilders to charge the UK importer; at the time I had no idea what they were. Strange to think that as a country we have been through the EU arrangements, but with Brexit coming we could soon be back doing entries for EU shipments. “During my freight career there have been


many changes to Customs and legal freight requirements,” he continued. It is a constant turnover of new and different procedures. Keeping abreast of those is a major issue and without the help and input of people like BIFA, many would struggle.” Colin’s advice for the next generation of


budding logistics professionals is to “get into a job, learn it, improve it and yourself, then move on – preferably in your own company, but if not, then elsewhere. Never stop developing yourself: you never know when it will be needed. “Logistics will continue to need talented


individuals who have an entrepreneurial streak and those who enjoy a challenge,” he said. However: “Generally, many of the freight employees work almost in a vacuum of doing what must be done and not developing beyond that. “Apprenticeships are great in the early stages,


but we should not overlook the more experienced group who need to look beyond their comfort zone,” Colin warned. Reflecting on what the Lifetime Achievement


award means to him, he reflected: “It has been a privilege to be able to help people to understand some of the mysteries of the international freight business. Being recognised in this way by your peers is an honour I shall never forget.” Colin is now cutting back on the “endless


travel” that training demands, although he will continue to be involved in a limited number of training days. He is spending more time mentoring patients who are undergoing cochlear implant operations – and he is also enjoying “playing with the tractors on my farm”, he added.


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