search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
BIFAlink


YFF Profile


www.bifa.org


respect, and that can be challenging at first. “I have had a lot of support from my


immediate management, but you do have to find your own leadership style and find the best way to work with your team. I am very grateful to the company for putting their trust in me as I have gone from being a trainee to a manager.” Among his work at GAC UK, Markus has been


involved in developing the company’s Egypt trade lane along with its newest product to Jebel Ali: a consolidation service for temperature- controlled perishables. His role in this project went from conceptualising and formalising the strategy, to its operational execution. “Having the opportunity to be a manager and


have an overview of a whole operation like this has been very interesting,” he noted. Markus’s academic history has been geared


very much towards international trade. One example is the two-year course in freight forwarding that he took in 2014-2016. He was living in the UK at that time, and flew back and forth to Denmark to complete the qualification. He is keen to continue his academic career,


possibly with an MBA. Also on the horizon is a potential move to the Middle East (where the GAC Group is headquartered) in a few years’ time.


Reaching out Markus is well aware of the freight forwarding industry’s ongoing struggle to attract new recruits. “The industry globally is in a crisis when it


A rollercoaster ride


Markus Knudsen made it to the final shortlist in the 2018 BIFA Young Freight Forwarder of the Year Award category – thanks to hard work, a can-do attitude and a deep-rooted desire to stretch himself


Danish by birth, Markus Knudsen feels that logistics – and specifically the maritime industry – is in his blood; a further link came from his father’s work as a truck driver. “I would accompany him on trips, travelling to


Ferrari factories in Italy and sometimes just delivering steel around Denmark,” Markus recalled, adding that he has always known that he wanted to live and work abroad. Hence the decision to start an internship with GAC Services (UK) Ltd back in 2014, at the age of just 18.


14 Since then, Markus has risen to the position of


operations manager of the company’s ocean export branch in Manchester. “I have always looked for more responsibility,”


he said, describing it as a welcome challenge that drives him. “I have gone from being an intern to a team leader to a supervisor to a manager in four years, so it has been a steep learning curve. “The biggest change has been managing


people. I can cope with the nitty-gritty of the job itself, but you have to put yourself in a position of


comes to engaging and bringing on board new talent and younger staff,” he said. “You tend to find that those people who go into logistics tend to stay in the industry, but the retention of very young people – 19 or 20 years of age, say – is low. “When people start out in logistics, they either


get it, or they do not. I think more could be done to help them to get it. More should be done in terms of outreach.” Younger people ought to be made aware of


the role logistics plays in every aspect of their daily lives, as well as the opportunities to learn transferable skills (such as time management, customer service, and thinking outside the box) through a career in freight forwarding. Looking back over the few short years that


have got him to where he is today, Markus summed up: “It has been a rollercoaster ride. I have achieved a lot in a short time – but it is not all sunshine, it has been tough. You have got to have grit. “I think it is good for my generation to see that


with willpower and elbow grease you can really get somewhere. If I can be an example of that, happy days!”


September 2019


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20