In The Spotlight – Waheed Syed

In The Spotlight – Waheed Syed
December 8, 2017 Hannah Marshallsay

In the first of our new series, where  some of PFE’s people get to tell their story, we talk to Waheed Syed, one of our Key Account Managers.

What’s your journey been with PFE?

I joined PFE in 2001. So that’s nearly 17 years that I’ve been here. It’s the longest I’ve worked anywhere. I used to have a rule, that you stayed somewhere for no longer than 5 years and then you had to move on, to find a new challenge. I’ve never had the need to seek a new challenge working at PFE.

I’ve had a number of roles at PFE. I started working in the manifest department putting controls in place to better manage customer shipments. Over the years I’ve worked extensively supporting the Directors developing our operating systems and our online tracking system, PFE Vision.

In my current role I am responsible for working closely with our key account customers. My challenge right now is ensuring the service we provide here is considered to be exceptional.

Number of years in the industry?

32. I’ve worked both on the Commercial side and the Service side. I like juggling all the balls and keeping everyone happy on the service side. It keeps me on my toes. I don’t want a job where everything is straightforward and simple.

What makes PFE different from the rest?

PFE is unique in how it works with its customers. My role is to be the first point of contact for a customer and to manage their suppliers to ensure that goods are delivered into the UK on time. We are our customers’ eyes and ears, we enable them to see an issue early, so that they can then react and we work together to find a solution to a problem. That’s what PFE is good at. The level of communication is quite incredible. If we see there is a possible delay for whatever reason we, on behalf of our customers, will push their suppliers to identify and address the issue. This is what PFE does differently.

PFE doesn’t rest on it laurels. We always move forward and give everything 110{1b1b9ce846acca1f39def03dae003274ac5660c9b015842d7bf5d85a3bcad6d8}. That’s why I love working here. Even though it takes me up to two hours everyday to get home from work, I am still happy to make that commitment.

What are three words that describe PFE?

Unique, Family, Driven

What is the favourite thing about your career?

Freight forwarding is a challenging environment as there is always the expectation that a solution can be found for even the most complex problems. The industry has suited me well in that respect. I like the fact that no two days are the same and the work is extremely varied and very busy.

I am generally a contented person as long as I am challenged. There’s always been a new challenge at PFE. We are always developing ourselves – how we do things, how we work with our customers. I’m still finding new challenges working at PFE even after all this time. That is what I’m driven by.

Do you have any future ambitions?

I would like to design something one day. I have an idea about making mobile phones less of a distraction on the roads. If I had more time, I’d like to develop this idea. Maybe when my children are qualified – one is studying engineering at the moment – I will work with them on my idea.

Who was your favourite childhood hero and why?

Growing up in Pakistan, when I was around 6 or 7 years old, it would have been The Six Million Dollar Man. He could do anything, he could solve any problem. I liked that.

If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life what would it be?

My very own lamb korma or lamb shank curry with speciality bread. Most people in the office have tried it. I love cooking for others and these are my speciality dishes.

What’s your favourite movie?

I like kids movies mainly. ‘Big’ has to be my all time favourite. However me and my family are huge fans of Laurel and Hardy. We have the whole collection and will watch them together on a Friday evening and have a good laugh.

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