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Awards


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The BIFA winners who triumphed over adversity


Despite a year beset by multiple operational difficulties and uncertainties, there were many outstanding entries in the BIFA Freight Service Awards 2020 – the very best of which have been announced in online video presentations


The year 2020 was a year like no other and one that we will all remember, although may prefer to forget! COVID-19 brought changes to all aspects of our lives, both personal and professional, causing a massive shift in behaviour with the government’s ‘stay at home’ message leading to the introduction of ‘working from home’ on an unprecedented scale. International travel was soon severely curtailed as countries


closed their borders to all but returning citizens, leading to mass transport cancellations. However, international freight and logistics were quickly recognised as ‘essential’ services, particularly as the requirement for certain PPE and healthcare products rocketed. Of course, BIFA Members are at the heart of the logistics


industry and manage the international movement of goods through multiple supply chains, ensuring compliance and advising both consignors and consignees. The personnel of BIFA Members quickly adapted their routines and found innovative solutions to the huge range of issues suddenly thrust in their paths. Having recently enjoyed the BIFA Freight Service Awards


2019 luncheon ceremony in late January, just as news of COVID-19 was making headlines, BIFA debated whether the 2020 competition should go ahead. The UK national lockdown introduced in late March brought many uncertainties and


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predictions of economic doom, so perhaps a competition and celebration of winners would be inappropriate? But, on the other hand, BIFA Members were working day and night to service the needs of the British public, assisting overseas travellers with the repatriation of personal items and managing the smooth passage of fresh food and other supermarket essentials, and they deserved a conduit through which to ‘blow their own trumpets’ and receive well-deserved recognition for their efforts. So, in the summer of 2020 the annual BIFA Freight Service


Awards competition was launched and the BIFA Membership responded magnificently with in excess of 60 entries received across 10 award categories. At this point restrictions on daily life had been eased and


February 2021


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