Not-for-profit training organisation Road to Logistics and the nation’s leading foodservice company, Sysco GB, have been named Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Company of the Year at the 2026 Multimodal Awards, recognising a partnership that is transforming access to careers in the logistics sector and setting a new benchmark for inclusive recruitment.
The award celebrates the impact of a joint programme delivered at Sysco London, the company’s largest site in the country, which was designed to open the door to logistics careers for people who would not normally get the opportunity to enter the sector.
Logistics remains one of the least diverse workforces in the country, and people face barriers to employment including long-term unemployment, homelessness, care experience and neurodiversity. At the same time, employers across the sector continue to face acute labour shortages. Road to Logistics and Sysco GB set out to tackle both challenges through a new, inclusive approach to recruitment and training.
Working together, the organisations designed dedicated logistics training programmes delivered on-site at Sysco London. Each programme combines sector-specific training, RTITB-accredited forklift truck qualifications, employability support and long-term mentoring and removes barriers that often prevent people from succeeding in traditional recruitment processes. Interview preparation, assessment centre formats and employer expectations are built directly into the employability training, helping learners gain confidence and familiarity. Participants also receive one-to-one mentoring from the start of the programme through to twelve months after entering employment.
Across three cohorts at Hemel Hempstead, 30 individuals completed the programme and 90% secured employment with Sysco GB. The participants reflected the programme’s commitment to inclusion: every participant was unemployed when they joined, with the majority experiencing long-term unemployment and several having experienced homelessness and living in supported accommodation; a significant proportion were identified as neurodiverse; and a quarter were from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Behind these figures are powerful individual stories. One graduate was referred to the programme after experiencing homelessness, having lost his family and home due to addiction problems. Having overcome his addictions, he successfully completed the training and mentoring programme, secured a role operating a forklift truck at Sysco London and has now been with the business for six months and has a place of his own where he lives happily with his wife and daughter.
Katrina Simpson-Haines, HR Director, Sysco GB, said: “Winning DEI Company of the Year is a testament to what can be achieved when businesses rethink how they recruit and who they reach. Our partnership with Road to Logistics is helping people build new futures while strengthening the long-term resilience of our sector. At a time when economic and social pressures have widened opportunity gaps, we all have a responsibility to champion social mobility and help remove the barriers that hold people back. I’m incredibly proud of the colleagues, mentors and leaders who have made this programme such a success.”
Jennifer Swain, Managing Director, Road to Logistics, said: “This award recognises the power of inclusive recruitment to change lives and transform the logistics workforce. Sysco GB has been an exceptional partner: committed, hands-on and determined to remove barriers for people who deserve the chance to thrive. Together we’ve shown that inclusive employment is not just socially responsible; it’s commercially essential.”
The Multimodal Awards judges praised the partnership as a scalable, evidence-led model for addressing the logistics sector’s long-term talent shortage while delivering meaningful social impact.
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