FOR a business that is based firmly on the roads, courier firm director, Jerry Stewart, has three unusual words for success: ‘train, train and train’.
But he isn’t about to forsake the Eagle Couriers 100-strong fleet of vehicles in favour of rail. Rather, he says that an investment in proper training has helped the business to blossom.
Employees at Scotland’s leading independent courier company have been given the opportunity to further their skills after the company secured a significant boost to its training budget.
The Bathgate-based firm has received a generous grant of £3,025 from Skills Development Scotland allowing it to place four members of its team on courses aimed at improving productivity and creating a more confident workforce.
It is hoped that the increase in budget will allow the company, which recently celebrated its 25th year in business, to continue to grow in what is a fast-changing sector.
INVESTMENT IN TRAINING
Director, Jerry Stewart, said: “We’ve always strongly believed that investing in our people is the surest way to enjoy continued success. So the grant from Skills Development Scotland goes a long way to help nurture our talent.
“We want to get the best out of our staff, while ensuring they also get a lot out of their working lives. I’m convinced the best way to achieve this is through investing time and money into a variety of training courses.
“Not only has this training helped our line managers and supervisors, but I have benefitted, as has my co-director, Fiona Deas.
“We’ve both received management training which has allowed us to take a step back from hectic daily tasks to see things from an altogether different perspective.
“This has allowed us to expend more of our time and thoughts on business strategy which in the fast based courier industry is essential to allow us to explore quicker, faster ways to grow our business and give our customers what they want.”
SHIRLAWS
The SDS Funding enabled both Jerry and Fiona to receive advanced senior management training from one of the country’s most experienced business coaching firms, Shirlaws.
Fergus King, business coach at Shirlaws, said he was delighted to have worked with Jerry and Fiona and to see that Eagle Couriers has a long-term commitment to staff training.
He added: “With Scotland at the centre of the global spotlight this year it has never been so important that businesses maximise their potential and to do so it is essential that they engage in quality training programmes.
“Not only does this help provide a more efficient and effective organisation by investing in employees it helps heighten their motivation which in turn enhances the company’s competitive position
“The results of employee training are already evident in the boost it has given to employee morale and we look forward to working in partnership with Eagle Couriers to help them to continue to grow into the future.”
Control manager, Neil Porteous, also attended a Shirlaws training course, whilst operations supervisor, Nicola Rennie, was given the opportunity to improve her supervisory and time management skills through Pitman Training.
Nicola said: “The training we have been given has been a fantastic experience which has provided us with innovative ideas on how we can better use our time at Eagle Couriers.
“After 12 years at Eagle, I have learned so much on the job; however, it was really insightful to get an outside trainer’s perspective.
“Not only has this improved our personal work, it has also had a trickledown effect as we have been able to feedback what we learned to other colleagues who have, in turn, also been able to reap its many benefits.
“Our mentor was a trained psychologist and gave us some great tips on how to work with employees’ strengths and around their weaknesses so I implemented a new training schedule as soon as I got back to the office which I’m sure will help us all work more efficiently together.”
Eagle Couriers has 20 members of operational staff across Scotland and a 100-strong team of couriers. It has its HQ in Bathgate, West Lothian and additional offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The company provides safe and quick logistics services to organisations across the private, public and third sectors as well as working directly with consumers and boasts a 3,500 strong client base, including the BBC, the Government Procurement Service and the NHS.
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