A PEOPLE-FIRST CULTURE

While autonomous robots help improve processes at our warehouse in Bicester, it is the people who work there who have helped us distribute more than 50 million units and make it the epicentre of physical music distribution in the UK. Developing a workplace culture that values individuals and promotes teamwork is key to our success.

Valuing staff starts with our safety-first culture. Anthony Brown, Operations Support Manager says, “Health and safety is at the forefront of everyone's mind here. We're all very conscious of it. Whether you are a visitor or you are a worker here, our number one goal is to make sure you come into this building safely and that you leave at the end of the day safely.”

Caring for staff also means creating an esprit de corps explains George Gailey, Site Manager, “The one thing at Bicester that we do try to create is engagement" he says, “And that’s not just with the clients, that's internally. From the management team, all the way down, we do internal town halls, we do Christmas raffles. Everything is about the team and the enjoyment that they bring to us, and hopefully us to them.”

Rita Forgacs, Management Trainee Supervisor, believes the team puts the welfare of individuals at its heart. “It’s like a family here. Everybody knows everybody,” she says. “We have to know each other personally as well to understand if somebody is not creating their KPIs, why they can't achieve it, what's the issue behind it, and we have to solve their issues. Whether it's personal or work-wise, we always have to be there for each other.”

That team spirit is most evident when staff are at their busiest, according to Anthony. “I believe that peak season is a time when people are at their happiest. You usually find that people want it to be busy and time flies,” he says.
 

“We've got a really good culture on the floor,” he adds, “We don't put people under pressure to try to get things done in a certain timeframe that we know is unrealistic. So, people enjoy themselves. We're sending lots of units out the door, and everyone's happy about that.”

Rita concurs. “It makes me happy to make the customers happy because we're delivering the stock that they’re ordering for Christmas, for birthdays, for their everyday use,” she says.

Underpinning that high morale is a sense that the company values people, as evidenced by the training available to staff. Anthony says, “DP World really do invest in people. They allow people to learn. If you wish to learn more, they offer opportunities to do so. If you wish to progress yourself, they allow you to do that.”

George says DP World is keen to nurture talent. “Being part of DP World, it offers opportunities across the board, across the globe, but apart from that, here at Bicester, we really engage with the teams in terms of their upscaling, whether that's us doing succession planning, looking at external courses, internal courses, but we've got multiple people that started on the floor and have now worked their way up through administration.”

From warehouse floor operatives to management, “DP World sees people as their number one asset.”

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