Following the decision to award Allison Kemp an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2020 for services to transport and logistics, The Leaders Council felt it was the right time to shine a spotlight on the managing director of AIM Commercial Services and her extraordinary career to date.
It is little over a year ago that Allison Kemp was named ‘Woman of the Year’ at the 2019 Everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards, but, looking back, it seems like a completely different world.
The ceremony was held in front of a packed crowd at JW Marriott Grosvenor House in London. There was no social distancing, no mask wearing and no requirement to have a substantial meal with your alcohol, although food was served.
There were 46 finalists for the award but it was the managing director of AIM Commercial Services who scooped the top prize.
‘I feel so humbled,’ Kemp said at the time, ‘and proud to have been awarded the Everywoman in Transport and Logistics Woman of the Year Award 2019.
‘This award isn’t just for me it’s for my family that support and encourage me so much and the amazing A.I.M Commercial Services team, it wouldn’t have happened without them all.’
One year later, and with the world turned upside down, Kemp was feeling ‘amazed and humbled’ again when news broke that she had been awarded an MBE.
‘I think I just do my job,’ she said, ‘and I never thought it would be recognised in this way.’
So what was it that has led to two such huge accolades being bestowed on one person in the space of a year?
The making of an MBE
Logistics is in the blood for Kemp, whose father and grandfather both worked in the sector. She initially worked in the construction industry in her early twenties before moving into logistics and, aged just 26, she became transport manager for Hornigold Haulage in Wellingborough.
In 2004, the ambitious Kemp broke out on her own and founded AIM Commercial Services in Ripley, Derbyshire. In the early days, the firm was asked by a local haulage firm JC Balls to provide tachograph analysis, which involves the analysis and interpretation of data relating to drivers.
The work was carried out to a high standard, with AIM now processing over 40,000 tachograph charts a month. And JC Balls remains a customer to this day.
In 2009, the firm was approved to provide Driver Certificate of Professional Competence courses, and training is now one of the key pillars of the company. They now deliver industry qualifications up to to Level 4 and are accredited training providers with several awarding bodies.
Allison Kemp and AIM have been there at the beginning of so many careers in transport and logistics and this has no doubt played a huge role in the accolades Kemp has received.
Since 2011, Kemp has chaired the East Midlands Freight Council and is the first woman to hold the post of deputy chair of the Freight Transport Association National Council.
For anyone looking to begin a career in transport and logistics, Kemp is undoubtedly a great model to follow.
