Tell us a bit about your career

I have spent nearly 12 years at Swire Shipping, part of the Swire Group, in a variety of roles and locations. I spent time initially in Singapore, New Zealand and then Papua New Guinea, where I moved into a customer-facing role. I then returned to Singapore in 2016 and spent four years in commercial roles, focusing on sales and agency management, and then long-term business development, before moving to the Solomon Islands as Country Manager. This was followed by two years as Country Manager in Australia, based in Sydney. The last two Country Manager roles were a lot more diverse, but still required a high level of customer focus.

So you’re familiar with cargo?

There are of course some parallels between sea and air freight – although quite a few differences too! Other than the basics of unitised cargo logistics, a core similarity between the industries is the absolute prioritisation of safety throughout all operations. It is front and centre for both Swire Shipping and the Cathay Group as a whole. Looking at both entities, a similarity between them is their positioning within their respective markets; both offer a premium service, differentiated solutions and go the extra mile for their respective customers. It is good to have some strong areas of comparison as I learn the differences and nuances of this new sector!

What are your first impressions of this new mode?

Initially, it’s clear that standards in air freight are very high, due to the fast-paced nature of the industry. If there is an issue or problem, solutions are process focused and very well resourced. The team is very sophisticated and has clear scenario planning and contingencies in place. It’s a very tight operation in terms of service delivery, and the commercial understanding around what that means and how to communicate it is also very impressive.

What are you most looking forward to about the job?

I like solving problems and I like learning. On the problem-solving side, there are the special shipment solutions; there’s always a customer that needs something new or different, and I feel lucky to be working in an organisation that puts the customer first, and continually commits resources to that prioritisation. On the learning side, there’s a lot: a whole new industry, a new company and a new dynamic. It is fun to be thrown into this new environment and understand how I can turn the learning into value. I am also looking forward to the international scope of the role: working with different cultures across the very diverse regions that we operate in, each with strong customer bases, and each with very strong sales teams. Understanding and engaging with those teams is something that motivates me as well.

What will your role with the sales team be?

Our mission is to be the world’s best air cargo carrier, and to do that we need the world’s best air cargo sales team. To be the best in the industry, they need the right knowledge, skills, tools and data. The team’s role is about providing that to our global sales teams, to help them as they go about achieving our mission.

How did you first learn about Swire?

I grew up in the UK, and lived in the same town for 20 years or so – before my family moved out to Hong Kong while I was at university. Before that I had never travelled to Asia, and when I visited Hong Kong I was immediately captivated by the pace and culture. I started looking for an Asia-centric business to work for after my degree. I did an internship in a commercial real estate leasing agency in Hong Kong during my final year of study, which is where I learned about the Swire Group.

What do you like doing when you’re not at work?

To be honest, I’m in the start of a new chapter, so I am still working that out. We moved to Hong Kong as a young family, so at the moment, we’re having fun exploring this city through the lens of a toddler. We loved a lot of the outdoors that Australia has to offer, and Hong Kong has plenty of that too – hiking trails, beaches and islands. And of course we’re already enjoying the incredible Hong Kong food scene!