Video summary

E3 – ‘Young People In Logistics’ with Steven Granite

Main summary

Key takeaways

Business

Podcast purpose & context

The “Logistics” podcast (Aspen Search & Selection), in partnership with Beverley (former senior traffic commissioner and CEO of Beverley Belt Training Consultancy), aims to highlight industry realities and improve awareness around:

  • Young people in logistics
  • Diversity & inclusion, including women in logistics

An early industry insight shared upfront: in the UK, demand for young people is 4.6x higher than the number of young people aspiring to join the sector.

The core theme: the bottleneck is less “need” and more “awareness, understanding, and access to pathways.”

Who’s speaking

  • Steve Granite
    • ~28 years in logistics
    • Executive Chairman of Abbey Logistics Co
    • Founder of Think Logistics
    • Long-time contributor to educating young people about logistics career opportunities

Career and operating approach (Abbey Logistics growth)

Entry strategy: “learn by doing” rotation

Steve describes a fast immersion across functions, starting young:

  • Began at age 15 (in the 1990s) with a small family transport business
  • Worked through multiple roles, including:
    • Cab/driver experience
    • Cleaning trucks
    • Finance
    • Transport planning
  • Early internal staffing logic: matched people to roles (e.g., “good with figures → finance”)

Scaling milestones (quantified)

  • Early stage: ~£18m turnover, employing ~150 people
  • By ~2016: ~£45m turnover, employing ~400
  • “Today” (at interview time): £75–£80m turnover, employing ~650

Strategic diversification, then refocus

  • Expanded from UK liquid transport into:
    • General haulage
    • Warehousing
    • Powders
    • Europe
  • Later divested general haulage, but strengthened positions in:
    • Food tankers
      • Described as the UK’s largest food tanker business and one of Europe’s largest

Leadership succession and exit structure

  • Steve stepped aside, later returning as part of a leadership/team expansion
  • 2016: aimed to avoid a “trade sale” and aligned management incentives
  • North Edge (Manchester):
    • brought equity
    • incentivized the management team with shares so leaders would grow the business for investors

“No silver bullet” execution mindset

Steve doesn’t name a formal growth framework, but the effective playbook is:

  • Persistence + determination
  • Expect setbacks and volatility, not linear growth
  • Continuous learning from frontline exposure—e.g., how orders translate into cash collection

Workforce challenge and early differentiation

Steve argues logistics faces:

  • An aging workforce
  • Insufficient young entrants
  • Logistics “invisibility” / limited understanding of what the sector actually is

Abbey’s differentiation approach emphasized being more attractive through:

  • Local opportunity
  • Development
  • (Implicitly) stronger talent pipeline practices, including how it recruits and supports people

Think Logistics / youth pipeline program (practical case study)

Origin story: making recruitment repeatable

Steve previously benefited from a school-linked model (around 1995) where local businesses recruited “future managers.”

  • Think Logistics started ~2010–2011 to replicate that next wave of youth recruitment.

Direct outreach process (what worked vs what didn’t)

  • Email outreach: slow/no response for weeks to months
  • Shifted approach: drove to the school rather than relying on email
  • Outcome: school leadership invited Think Logistics to present

“Getting back to basics” presentation adaptation

At a school event, the audience initially had no understanding of logistics.

  • He stopped the pre-planned presentation mid-way
  • Asked: “Do you know what Logistics is?”
  • There were no real answers, only misconceptions (e.g., “is it UPS?”)

He reframed the session around:

  • What logistics actually is
  • The career path
  • Why Abbey is a strong decision

Concrete outcomes

  • After the session: ~50 students engaged
  • Ultimately hired two
    • one became an accountant
    • one still works at the company

Program thesis

  • Talent exists; the bottleneck is awareness and understanding
  • Youth need role models
  • “They don’t want to listen to old people.”

Business rationale for lobbying (driver shortages)

Steve frames lobbying government as a way to protect the economy: logistics constraints threaten growth, and government decisions can block recruitment.

Causes affecting driver supply he cites include:

  • COVID: European drivers returning home; training/instruction disrupted
  • Brexit: difficulty recruiting European drivers
  • Immigration policy issues
    • Drivers not treated as “essential workers” (as described)
    • Temporary visas (e.g., three-month visa) criticized as ineffective
  • Skills/test capacity constraint
    • Even when employers wanted to train inexperienced candidates, they struggled to get driving tests scheduled

How he engaged externally

  • Used press/interview opportunities (e.g., citing Conservative Party Conference and outreach via associations)
  • Reported ministers’ disconnect, including a minister admitting limited knowledge of logistics and inability to answer immediately

Government-funded “boot camps” (execution impact)

Steve credits a major intervention:

  • Boot camps funded by government to cover license acquisition

Why it mattered operationally:

  • Boot camps improved the pipeline “on the ground” because instructors and tests worked through real demand
  • He described it as completing a “sequence”:
    • industry-funded school engagement first
    • government funding then triggered broader scaling and sustained impact

Upcoming/next-stage strategic challenge (5-year lens)

Alternative fuels dependency

The next major operational constraint is alternative fuels (as transcribed).

Key dependency:

  • Large corporates want decarbonization now
  • But firms can’t decide because of:
    • Infrastructure gaps
    • Too many options
    • Waiting for workable rollout conditions

Action requested from government

Support infrastructure rollout for alternative fuels to unblock corporate logistics transformation.

Autonomous vehicles stance (UK practicality)

Steve’s view: autonomous vehicles won’t happen in the UK (contrasted with US/Australia), at least not in the timeframe implied in the discussion.

Hiring and interview “selection” guidance (people/ops tactics)

In interviews, Steve advises prioritizing:

  • Ambition and motivation
  • Not just academic results (results are “secondary”)
  • Common sense and attitude

Practical screening principle:

  • High results but low motivation/drive → likely not a fit
  • Motivation/attitude can be trained and often correlate with:
    • reliability
    • progress in operations-heavy roles

Metrics / KPIs explicitly mentioned

Workforce pipeline

  • Demand vs aspiration (UK stat): young people demand logistics 4.6x more than young people aspire to join it

Hiring outcome from one program session

  • ~50 engaged → 2 hires

Company performance growth (Abbey Logistics)

  • ~£18m turnover, ~150 employees (earlier stage)
  • ~£45m turnover, ~400 employees (~2016)
  • £75–£80m turnover, ~650 employees (current at interview time)

Program timeline

  • Think Logistics launched around 2010–2011

Actionable recommendations embedded in the conversation

For employers / youth pipeline builders

  • Replace jargon-heavy presentations with “logistics basics” (ensure students can define the term)
  • Use personal outreach when formal channels stall (in-person school visits)
  • Share clear stories of career progression and concrete opportunities—not just general promises

For policymakers / sector bodies

  • Fund and scale “boot camp” pathways that solve:
    • license acquisition
    • test availability
  • Fix alternative-fuel infrastructure constraints to accelerate adoption
  • Ensure immigration and training policies match real operational bottlenecks (e.g., tests, driver access)

Sources / presenters

  • Steve Granite
    • Executive Chairman, Abbey Logistics Co
    • Founder, Think Logistics
  • John Wilson
    • Head of Logistics & Transport Recruitment, Aspen Search & Selection
    • Host/introducer
  • Beverley Belt Training Consultancy / Beverley
    • Former senior traffic commissioner and CEO (name mentioned as partnership source; not fully transcribed in subtitles)

Original video