Member Article

Leila Leaves Logistics After 35 Years

One of the team at Dartford-headquartered Europa Worldwide Group has retired after more than 35 years working for the business – in which time she has seen it grow from just 25 staff to a team of more than 600.

Mother of three and grandmother of one Leila Alli, 66, of Abbey Wood near Dartford started working for the independent logistics operator as a typist in 1981. She took a career break to have her children and when she returned to work she took the role of receptionist instead.

During her time at Europa, Leila was one of the driving forces behind the business’s charitable activities, helping to coordinate events which raised thousands of pounds through fundraising events for charities which do invaluable work for sick and disadvantaged children, the elderly and disabled people.

Leila, who plans to spend her retirement travelling, watching cricket and spending time with her family, said: “The send-off the whole team at Europa gave me was overwhelming! It brought me to tears because I’ve had such a wonderful career at Europa and I am sad to leave. What has made it so special are the people – I couldn’t believe how many bunches of flowers I was presented with, not just from the team at Dartford but from other Europa sites such as Bristol and Southampton.

“I’ve made some wonderful friends at Europa over the last 35 years – colleagues and customers too. On reception you’re the first person a customer might come into contact with when they visit or call, so I’ve prided myself on demonstrating what a friendly and positive business Europa is as the first point of contact.”

Leila joined the business in 1981 and has seen Europa, which was set up in 1966, grow from a small operator offering specialist air, sea and logistics services, to one of the leading and largest independent distributors of goods between the UK and Europe.

Europa was previously based in Hailey Road in Dartford. In 2013, Managing Director Andrew Baxter acquired the business and set about a bold front-end restructuring, creating clear divisions for the business – Road, Air & Sea, Warehouse and Showfreight and created a £30m new headquarters in Dartford called 1Hub, which all Dartford staff moved to in 2015.

Leila added: “Andrew brought the business into the modern world and breathed life into it. Everyone was so refreshed and full of energy when Andrew announced his plans, particularly the new site at Dartford. He’s a really ambitious businessman and has been a great person to work for.”

HR and Facilities Director at Europa Carl Potter added: “We are of course very sad to see Leila go and so grateful to her for her dedication and hard work over the last three decades! She is one of Europa’s longest standing members of staff and we wish her all the very best in her well-deserved retirement.”

Europa Worldwide Group employs more than 250 staff in Dartford with a total of 600 people across the business’s 12 sites in the UK plus Hong Kong and is represented in 100 countries.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Emily Winsor .