Rob Cottrell

Leading projects with transparency and a keen attention to detail to deliver meaningful long-term benefits for clients

I joined Hatmill in 2017 following 4 years working in a variety of operational and project roles for Morrisons and latterly Wincanton. I started on the Morrisons logistics graduate scheme which gave me an invaluable insight into the end-to-end challenges of a time critical supply chain and great experience in managing large teams both operationally and as part of a project. I then joined Wincanton where I completed my Transport Managers CPC and managed the Transport operation for a retail contract with a fleet of c.100 vehicles and c.120 drivers delivering to stores across the South East.

Since joining Hatmill, I have had the opportunity to work across a range of sectors and clients to deliver some complex projects with long-term tangible benefits. Recent experience includes:

• Project managing the concept design, tender selection, £26m business case sign-off, implementation and cutover of a 14,000 pallet capacity coldstore for one of the UK’s leading food-to-go retailers. This facility comprises an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) operating at -20°C, across 9 storage levels up to 23m internal height in a lights out hypoxic environment. The project was delivered during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic consolidating 4 external storage sites into a single National Distribution Centre alongside the build and fit-out of modern sustainable welfare facilities to support the business growth
• Strategy development and implementation of a warehouse layout change for a fast-growing online beauty retailer resulting in a 20% increase in productivity and 15% increase in storage capacity
• Operational review of a leading online vehicle parts business to develop a strategy for handling significant growth and improving health & safety. The output of the review led to a 70% improvement in H&S incidents, and a 40% increase in storage capacity through a mix of layout changes and identification of redundant stock. This negated the need for new warehouse space which the business had been actively investigating