Supply chain expert Jim Spittle FCILT, CILT’s new President in the UK, has set out his priorities for the Institute in the coming year. Speaking at the Annual President’s Inauguration Lunch, which was attended by nearly 90 senior members and special guests, Jim Spittle said that the Institute has achieved significant growth in its scope and influence over recent years. He outlined three key opportunities and priorities that he wants to pursue during his presidency:

To develop continuous professional development (CPD) to help CILT members enhance their skills and expertise and gain a full breadth of experience in their careers
To increase Institute membership by at least 10% and address the fall in membership numbers, which have declined during the recent years of recession
To expand and enhance the Institute’s mentoring scheme to increase its effectiveness and reach to benefit more members
Jim Spittle said that he was honoured to be President for 2014–15. He added that effective mentoring and skills training have advanced his career and he wants others to benefit from this approach.

His call to develop skills was backed up by guest speaker Nicola Shaw, Chief Executive, High Speed 1 rail link. She argued that training and professional development: ‘keeps motivation and retains staff through common teachings and skills’. This, she said, underpins the achievement of three objectives for HS1, to:

Protect and grow, so that high performance of the HS1 rail line is maintained
Win by improvement and stay number one by improving continuously and innovating
Punch above its weight, finding ways to make paths available to other operators on the high-speed route
Jim Spittle is one of the country's leading authorities on global supply chains. He is Chairman, GS1, which develops and implements international data standards, and he is an advisory board member of de Poel and Cranfield University’s Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management, where he is also an external examiner for its MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. He was previously Group Supply Chain Director, DSG International, Whitbread and Kingfisher, and a Director, Tesco plc.

One of the Institute’s longest-serving members and former President was also honoured. Outgoing President Jim Steer FCILT presented a special award to Jim Cleary FCILT, who has been a member of the Institute for more than 50 years and was Chairman of The Chartered Institute of Transport in 1991–92.