Niall Howarth

A Project Manager, Prince 2, ITIL and ISEB certified, with 20 years’ experience delivering high profile projects into Blue Chip organisations. Responsible for developing and implementing a range of highly successful Business Change and IT solutions projects from Initiation to Closure across a range of functions. Excellent record of ensuring first class delivery of on time, on budget projects in to highly pressurised and time sensitive business areas

Pets at Home Senior Project Manager                                     July 2022 – Present

Pets at Home is the UK’s leading Pet Care business with over 450 Pet Care Centres and a single purpose built Fulfilment Centre

Project: Warehouse Management System (WMS) for new Fulfilment Centre. Lead project manager on the implementation of an updated WMS to Pet’s new fulfilment centre in Stafford. The project incorporates Retail, E Comm and all Automation across all functions of the Fulfilment Centre

Results: Delivered a multi-year transformation initiative generating multi-million-pound savings within the distribution network. Significantly improved product availability across retail locations, driving measurable sales growth. Introduced industry-leading automation solutions, establishing the fulfilment centre as a benchmark for operational efficiency and innovation.

Coop Project Manager – Food & Logistics                               October 2017 – June 2022

With over 63,000 employees across the UK Co-op is one of the world’s largest consumer cooperatives, owned by millions of members. Co-op is the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer and the UK’s number one funeral services provider. It is a recognised leader for social goals and community led programmes

Since October 2017, my role at Co-op has been to source, develop and Project Manage through to implementation both industry-leading technologies and Business Change projects to increase efficiency and profitability via measurable business impact.

Project: Labour Management. Full end to end responsibility for delivery of the project to 11 Coop distribution centres and to 11,000 colleagues across all warehouse job functions.

Results: This multi-year project has delivered in year savings of circa £2m by providing a clear, fair, system-driven performance management tool

Project: Tobacco. Led a cross functional project team that was formed with a targeted objective to significantly reduce loss within the Tobacco and Vape supply chain.

Results: Loss was reduced from 2.5% of net sales down to 0.2%. The project is on target to reduce tobacco claims to zero by the end of 2022. This would deliver a saving of circa £2.5m

Bidvest Logistics – Senior Project Manager                             October 2003 – October 2017

With 1.25 million square feet of storage in 8 depots across the country, Bidvest Logistics is a major player in the food service industry. The company has over 6,300 employees and a fleet of 1,100 vehicles servicing a customer base of 50,000 delivery units including Burger King, Pizza Hut, Pizza Express, Subway, Pret A Manger and KFC

Project: Telematics and Dynamic Route Scheduling. A project that provided complete visibility of the entire transport operation. The project, strategically aligned to Bidvest Logistics’ European distribution partners, also introduced in-cab technology to reduce operational costs, increase productivity, promote best practice and drive customer service. Budget £1.5m

Results: Delivered on time and under budget, cost savings circa £4.5m.

Project: Voice Technology. A business focused project that impacted all areas of the supply chain. Delivering efficiencies and productivity by optimising operational performance through the introduction of a fully automated real time system. As lead Project Manager I ran a diverse team from factory floor workers to senior directors. The project, in situ at 5 major depots, required me to manage multiple workstreams and a budget in excess of £2.5m. After successful implementation in the UK I acted as a consultant on the implementation of Voice Directed Warehouse processes into 2 European Logistics Businesses.

Results: The project saw Bidvest Logistics become the first logistics business worldwide to implement Voice technology throughout its warehouse operation. The implementation has driven efficiencies, reduced costs, improved productivity and impacted positively on the working lives of all who use the system. Currently the project has delivered estimated savings of over £5m.

BSc Politics - Loughborough Universtity

Prince 2

ISEB

ITIL