Logistics 100 member Simon Harper is responsible for the people, operations, procurement and real estate within one of the countries’ leading B2B express delivery companies, delivering more than 150 million items every year.
Since taking the operations lead at TNT Express in January 2010, Simon has overseen significant transformational changes to the networks and operations of TNT, deploying new technologies, new infrastructure and new working practices to ensure that margin erosion throughout the economic downturn has been minimised and that TNT Express continues to be able to differentiate it’s value proposition to its customers as a result.
SHD Logistics (SHD): Simon, your nomination recognises the significant transformational changes which have taken place at TNT. How have these changes impacted positively on your operations?
Simon: TNT has a whole host of investments going on across the company in terms of our fleet vehicles, automation, IT and infrastructure. In the UK, this, of course, includes our new super-depot at Swindon which enables us to keep freight destined for the South West in the South West instead of trunking it up to our major hubs in the Midlands. It will mean earlier and more efficient deliveries for customers in the region and will increase our capacity in our other locations. The investment in Swindon coupled with further investment in upgrading our fleet, improving our IT and our network infrastructure is just part of TNT’s planned global investment programme between 2015 and 2017.