New university course aims to fill growing number of professional vacancies in logistics

With the number jobs in the logistic sector growing at nearly twice the rate of all other jobs, a new degree at the University of Northampton (UON) aims increase the number of people qualified to fill them.

Over the last ten years, jobs within the logistics sector have grown by 26% compared to 14% across the economy as a whole, with the largest growth being in professional and technical jobs.*

In September UON will welcome its first cohort of students onto the new BSc in Sustainable Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Those on the course will learn the importance of logistics to global trade with a focus on sustainability, project management, procurement, business law and in their third year they will be applying what they have learned to real-world scenarios with a final project undertaken in an industry context.

Andrew Gough, UON’s Senior Lecturer in Operations Management said that nationally the amount of warehousing floor space grew by 88% between 2011 and 2021, a trend that was accelerated by the change in consumer behaviour during Covid.

He said the sector has become increasingly professionalised and logistics firms are making decisions on major investments based on the skills available around potential development sites.

Andrew said: “There is a growing range of professional services needed to support this industry from engineers to human resources, from data scientists to ecologists, there is an entire eco-system of professions needed to support a sector which is set to grow by more than 50% over the next 20 years.

“It’s not an opportunity that’s spoken about a great deal in schools, but with wages being on average £4,900 higher compared to other sectors, we need to change the narrative.”

In advance of the course starting Andrew has teamed up with Ben Taylor, Planning Director, and Edward Pigott, Associate Planning Director at Newlands Developments who have helped to create a module for second year MSc students.

Edward said Northampton is in the Golden Triangle for logistics where there is an almost unlimited demand for warehouse floorspace.

He said: “The industry has been fighting against the perception that it’s all trucks and sheds for a very long time, and it could not be further from the truth. This is rather critical national infrastructure that enables people to live their daily lives.

“Northamptonshire is strategically placed, and we think by partnering with the University, those looking to invest will choose to do so here and create the high-quality jobs the region needs to keep growing.”

To find out more, visit the UON webpage on the Sustainable Logistics and Supply Chain Management BSc.

Notes:

* BPF’s Levelling Up: The Logic of Logistics (January 2022)

Newlands Developments based in Rugby, who were founded in November 2018 by the former senior management team of Roxhill Developments. Over the last ten years the management team has delivered more than 20 million sq ft of logistics space for a number of multinational companies. Within Northampton specifically, Newlands, in partnership with M&G Real Estate, constructed three speculative warehouses on a 40-acre brownfield site. This delivered 820,000 sq ft of floorspace designed to meet best in class sustainability criteria, delivering Net Carbon Zero, a BREEAM rating of Outstanding and an EPC A+ certification. To find out more about Newlands, visit their webpage.