On just week three in the job, we sat down with Danny Bostock, our first Essentials Solutions Manager in the UK to find out a little bit more about his career, his first impressions of Prologis UK and what’s exciting him about his new role.

So Danny, can you give us a brief summary of your career so far?

Well, I’ve got 18 years of experience to fall back on, so I really will try and keep it brief!

I somewhat “fell” into the logistics industry at the start, taking a summer holiday job at an industrial manufacturer. What I quickly realised was that working in industry, and the chance to earn money, was more appealing than going to University and so chose to follow a career in the sector.

One of my first experiences was managing a relationship with Homebase to supply and refit new racking into their stores nationwide.

My first “big” job was when I moved to Wickens Engineering, who are an industry expert when it comes to cantilever and heavy duty racking solutions. I ended up being the National Sales Manager, managing relationships with a number distributors and end users during a boom time in the logistics sector. Because Wickens offered bespoke solutions, it was during this time that I started to really understand the importance of delivering the right solution for customers – listening to their needs and responding accordingly.

For the last six years I’ve been at Jungheinrich UK as their Systems Sales Manager and supporting Key Accounts such as CEVA Logistics, MAERSK and Lidl to name a few. The solutions we provided were again very customer centric – offering turnkey solutions in respect of forklift, racking, mezzanine and semi-automation products.

My focus has always been to provide the right solution for the right application, to listen to customer needs and consult on what would most benefit them.

Sounds like quite the journey Danny. Can you give us an example of where a customer’s needs have resulted in a solution quite different from the initial request?

I remember once working with a clothing distributor. Initially, they thought they wanted a VNA racking solution, to be able to handle their trading peaks around sales, Black Friday and Christmas. In fact, that approach would have led to unnecessary additional cost – with both specialised forklift equipment being underutilised and the expense of specialised drivers.

What we established through our fact-finding was that they needed a solution which they would be able to scale up. Our recommended approach, which the customer progressed with, was for a multi-level mezzanine with manually loaded / unloaded shelving.

We managed to increase flexibility solution whilst reducing their operating costs. Peaks could be handled by agency staff and remove the need for specialised forklifts.

Can you give us your first impressions of Prologis? What’s got you excited?

Actually, my impressions from even before day one were very positive. It might sound like a funny thing to say, but the interview process was actually a joy to be part of! Everyone was approachable and put you at ease which really allowed me to put my “best foot forward”.

Since joining, those same impressions hold true. I’ve been really impressed by the quality and professionalism of the people in the business. As well as great people, the facilities are fantastic & the communication internally in incredible.

The culture, which is clearly evident from walking through the door at Prologis, is really impressive.

That’s a glowing endorsement Danny, thanks. Finally for now, can I ask you what you’re things you’re most excited about?

There’s certainly a lot for me to learn, but also some things which are very familiar. At its base, my new role will be about listening to our customer’s needs and consulting with them on the right solution. It’s exciting to be able to offer a larger range of solutions and be provided with the opportunity to grow personally at the same time.

I’m also excited to continue my career at a company where sustainability is such a big focus. From already speaking to our customers, the Energy solutions we provide through Prologis Essentials are so important. Whether that’s LED lighting, solar installations or EV infrastructure, it’s something I know our customers are asking for and can offer them significant benefit. It’s a conversation which both Prologis and our customers want to have a to reduce energy consumption and operate in a more sustainable way.

The scale of Prologis is very exciting. As such a large enterprise, Prologis have fantastic buying power which they’re then able to offer to their customers. Beyond that, it’s the experience of people in the business that’s great – both here in the UK and right across the world – there’s always someone who will be able to provide you advice and guidance.