Chris joined Forward Solutions in March 2022 and has over 30 years of experience in the freight industry.

He started his career at MAT Transport working as an Export Clerk/Supervisor. During his time here, Chris became the company’s Forward Office ‘super user’.

After a 17-year stint at the business, he became an IT Manager at International Forwarding, where he specialised in network and software support.

Chris was eager for a new challenge and wanted to secure a role that was local to his home in Nottingham, which led him to join Forward Solutions as a Customer Success Manager.

His main priorities consist of helping his customer portfolio get the best out of the products, by taking on feedback and optimising their experience. By doing this, he helps to improve the capabilities of the system.

Chris said:

“The freight sector is something I have an extensive amount of experience in, and I am glad I can bring that knowledge to the team at Forward Solutions.

“I enjoy my time here and the different teams work so well together – it’s a perfect dynamic. With the roll-out of exciting software this year, such as Forward Vision, I’m looking forward to seeing what else we can help provide our clients with in 2024.”

In the future, Chris wants to continue helping the team service its existing client base, while also playing an integral role in supporting the company’s growth.

Outside of work, Chris keeps himself very busy: he is a fencing coach in Nottingham, alongside being a touch rugby referee. He is also involved in community allotment projects and enjoys hiking around the countryside.

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Kevin joined Forward Computers in 1998 and has over 25 years of experience in the freight industry under his belt. 

His first introduction to Forward Solutions was when he worked as a Technical Director at Ecotrans Ltd in 1986. The transport and logistics service were one of the first customers of Forward Office, with Kevin becoming hugely familiar with the capabilities of the software during his 12-year stint at the business. 

In March 1988, Kevin was eager for a new challenge. After his experience with the system at Forward, he applied for a position at the company and took on the role of Project and Implementation Manager. In this role, he was provided with his own set of clients to look after. His skillset is focused mostly on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and he created documents for the external and internal use of EDI for a selection of customers. 

After progressing into an Integration Specialist role, he has recently transitioned into a training-focused position alongside Nigel Smith, with the pair looking to share over five decades of their combined knowledge.  

Although he will be helping the internal team and customers with different modules of the system, he will be specifically positioned to ensure that his knowledge of EDI is passed on to them.  

Kevin added: 

“As I have been at Forward for over 25 years, I have seen massive changes in the way the business operates. I used to deal with a lot of face-to-face communication with customers and the internal team, but now I will be hosting training sessions, both online and in-person.  

“I am eager to share my knowledge with our people, especially when it comes down to EDI. The staff at Forward always need to have lots of knowledge of all the systems, but It’s great to be an expert in an area as specific as EDI. It means I can give confidence to the next generation of our staff who are coming through, and we, as a business, will retain this information.” 

Outside of work, Kevin is a huge music fan and aims to attend up to 50 gigs each year! His favourite song is Sweet Little Mystery by John Martin. He is also into lots of sports and is a supporter of Manchester City FC.  

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Nigel, who hails from Maidstone, Kent, joined Forward Computers (as the company was then known) in 1996, before it rebranded in 2021 as Forward Solutions. He primarily looked after Forward’s Southern client base, before he recently transitioned into his new training role.

Before joining Forward Solutions, Nigel worked across numerous firms within the freight sector. He began his career after having various clerical positions at Overseas Containers Ltd, before joining P&O Containers Ltd in 1987, where he progressed to the position of Operations Supervisor.

It was at Oceanlink Ltd, whom he joined in 1990, which led him to discover a new career opportunity. Oceanlink was an existing customer of Forward Computers, and Nigel’s interest in the company was piqued.

He quickly became interested in how the software worked at Forward Solutions, as he worked so closely with it, and as a result an opportunity to join the business as a Project Manager in 1996 became available.

In this new role, he focused on applying the various systems Forward work with to customers across the UK and Europe. He went on to add many other roles and responsibilities in his time at Forward and is about to enter the next stage of his career.

After over 27 years at the company, Nigel is now transitioning into a training role providing training for customers and helping with recruitment and inductions.

Nigel added:

“After being in the industry for over three decades, I’ve seen a huge change in the sector. I’ve always had the mindset to move with the times and it’s so important to be open to new ideas and challenges – I even worked from home before it was fashionable! You must always be adaptive and forward-thinking, and that’s why we are constantly pushing our products forward.

“I am excited to share my experience and knowledge accrued over the years with the team at Forward Solutions, while also recruiting the next generation of IT specialists.”

In his spare time, Nigel likes to spend time with his grandchildren and is a big fan of sports, regularly watching F1, football, cricket and rugby. He has also taken on the mission of carrying out DIY tasks around the house!

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Tony, who hails from Little Eaton in Derbyshire, returned to Forward Solutions in November 2022 and has over 35 years of industry experience under his belt.

He started his IT career as a developer at Evets Computers Limited.

After several years, he joined Forward Solutions which led to five years with the business, until he ventured out to explore other pathways. Tony left to become self-employed, starting his own business in 2004, known as ‘Tec IT’ and for the next 20 years built a skilled team.

Tony worked with a range of huge customers, such as ITV and Manchester City F.C. providing business intelligence and reporting, data migration, global web and mobile application support, as well as financial statistics analysis.

After hearing that Forward Solutions were recruiting, in the post-pandemic landscape, Tony decided to re-join the business as a Development Manager. Tony works on co-ordinating his expanding team to develop the company’s products and push them forward, ensuring they remain at the forefront of the industry. He is currently involved with a web interface project and is eager to work with his team to progress it further.

Tony added:

“One of my favourite parts about working at Forward Solutions is that we are always pushing the boundaries and looking to utilise new technology.

“Forward has been around for a number of years, and our customers want us to continue to provide our services for many years to come, which therefore means we must ensure our technology remains at the forefront of modern industry standards.”

Tony has a love of football and enjoys following Derby County F.C. while also being a regular supporter of Holbrook Sports Football Club, a team that his son manages in the Central Midlands South Premier League.  He also has a passion for cars and enjoys spending time with friends and family.

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Scott, who is from Belvedere in Southeast London, has worked extensively in the IT sector over the last decade, providing him with a huge amount of industry experience, before he joined the team in April 2022.

Scott kick started his career after signing up for an apprenticeship scheme with a London charity called Skills for Growth, which landed him a job with their partner at the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment. Here, he started as a 1^st Line Support Technician, where he developed a passion for IT Support and gained essential business skills.

After three years of expanding his IT knowledge, the opportunity arose to become an IT Technician at leading logistics firm Europa Worldwide Group, which turned into an eight-year career. Scott rose through the ranks, eventually becoming IT Support Manager.

His focus consisted of not only tech support but supporting the businesses’ own internal software development.

Scott was then offered the position of Customer Success Manager at Forward Solutions, which was the starting point for the latest stop on his career journey.

Within his role at Forward Solutions, Scott’s main priority is engaging with customers and developing an understanding of the support they require. He will resolve their queries, enhance products on behalf of them, and be the reliable communication line between customers, the internal support and software development team.

Scott added:

“I have been working at Forward Solutions for over a year now, and I enjoy the fact that no two days here are ever the same.

“Our software platform is so advanced and intricate, that you are always working on a new part of the system, which is especially true for someone like me who is fairly new to the business. Still to this day, I am working on things that I have never seen before, which I find interesting as it keeps the role fresh.”

Richard Litchfield, Managing Director at Forward Solutions added: “Scott is a highly valued member of Forward Solutions and it is great to have someone of his calibre on the team.

“Having previously worked with him at Europa, I was well aware of his experience and capability to help our business thrive – and he has certainly helped us develop since joining us last year.”

In the future, Scott wishes to simplify and automate processes across the business. Coming from a large enterprise background, he is eager to use these ideologies and integrate them further into Forward Solutions. So far, he has worked with the accounts team to make the expenses process simpler, as well as overhauling the rollout procedure at the business for new customer integrations.

Outside of work, Scott enjoys fishing and playing video games, as well as socialising with friends and family.

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Dan joined the team in August 2022 at our Nottingham headquarters and comes with a rich background of IT sector experience.

After completing his A-Levels, Dan originally planned to head off to university to secure a degree, although these plans swiftly changed after he got in touch with a careers advisor.

Instead, he pursued an IT apprenticeship at his old high school, which gave him industry standard qualifications to help him excel further in his career. From there, Dan became a 2^nd Line IT Engineer at Pall-Ex, a recognised leader in palletised freight distribution, until a career diversion later down the line saw him become a Project Manager at Task Corporation, specialists in bespoke manufacturing of joinery fabrications.

This role provided Dan with skills in managing projects which diversified his portfolio, before he returned to his roots and continued pursuing his passion for IT, gaining a further 6 years’ experience as an IT engineer at two different organisations.

Now working at Forward Solutions, Dan’s role is focused on working closely with Forward Office, our freight management system which is made up of eight different modules which all provide a unique function.

His team works from a technical end, providing the infrastructure and platforms that allow applications to function optimally and effectively, by supporting the rest of our applications, including the physical and virtual hardware.

The main responsibilities within his role consist of designing and maintaining system architecture, monitoring the performance of servers and network devices, utilising Red Hat Linux and Windows environments to provide the platform with software to run on, proving consultancy and technical support for their customers.

Dan added:

“When I joined the team, I felt a strong sense of belonging, which allowed me to settle in quickly. The work environment is great, and I have found myself challenged in all the right ways, enabling me to grow both personally and professionally. The team are highly collaborative, fostering a growing sense of camaraderie, that is enhancing our collective productivity.

“One aspect that particularly stands out is how Forward leverage my existing skillsets, while also providing opportunities to acquire new skills by providing the training I need, which has equipped me with the tools and knowledge I require to execute my role efficiently and contribute significantly to the company’s success.”

In the future, Dan wants to develop his skillset at Forward Solutions to enable him to move into a more senior role, with further ambitions to become a Consultant/Architect in the industry at some point.

Outside of work, Dan keeps busy by focusing on his goals by keeping active in the gym, hiking, playing golf and basketball as well as pursuing other interests like improving his ability to play acoustic guitar, attending gigs and music festivals when they are in season.

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Multimodal is the annual flagship exhibition, which brings together thousands of people from across the supply chain, taking place at the NEC in Birmingham, featuring conference sessions, networking and awards.  Registrations for the event opened last month.

The Forward Solutions team is one of the longest established freight software development companies, providing an end-to-end solution for a wide range of operators with 20+ users in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US.  The company are transport sector specialists, providing IT systems for leading multimodal players across air freight, sea freight, road freight and rail freight.

With the massive and continued sector growth in technologies, Forward Solutions had a hugely successful show last year, where it demonstrated its new user interface (UI) which is about to be launched.  Forward Solutions invested £1/2million and 3,000-man hours in the development of this new technology – Forward’s most significant single investment to date – to ensure that its software is fully intuitive and easy to use.

Forward Solutions Managing Director Richard Litchfield comments:

“The response from visitors to our stand at Multimodal was excellent, it was a great opportunity to meet both existing and new customers face-to-face following the challenges of Covid-19.  It provided our team with the perfect environment to showcase the UI in an excellent setting of collaboration and support, the whole atmosphere of the show was really positive.”

Forward Solutions at the Multimodal Exhibition 2021. Picture by Shaun Fellows / Shine Pix Ltd

Richard added:

“We have a unique appreciation of the many challenges operators face every day and are using this understanding to bring a different perspective to the market, which we’ll be sharing in at the event in June.  2022 will be an important year for use where we focus on supporting our customers using the latest innovations and technologies to help their businesses thrive.”

Multimodal has secured a partnership with the Institute of Export and International Trade (IOE&T), and also with the Career Colleges Trust (CCT).

IOE&T, as a provider of education and training to professionalise the UK’s international traders, will run two days of CPD accredited free to attend seminars aimed at their membership of small/medium shippers.  The CCT support students looking at the logistics industry for their careers.

Robert Jervis, Event Director at show organisers Clarion Events Ltd commented:

“Multimodal 2022 is going to be another flagship event.  We are excited about these new initiatives, and we will continue to work closely with the market on more actionable and improvements to ensure that the show retains its position as the UK and Ireland’s leading transport and logistics event.  Whilst the CCT collaboration will further enhance our third day focus on the logistics industry future workforce addressing recruitment, apprenticeships, training, education and the skills gaps.”

Forward Solutions is part of the Freight Software Group with BoxTop Technologies and together the duo has a portfolio of over 300 customers.

Multimodal Stand 2045

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The Forward Solutions team is one of the longest established freight software development companies, providing an end-to-end solution for a wide range of operators in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US.  The company provides IT systems for leading multimodal players across air freight, sea freight, road freight and rail freight.

Jim is based within the Nottingham team and has worked for Forward Solutions for 17 years.  Unusual for a technology firm, Forwards Solutions’ staff retention rate is enviably high, and Jim is one of many long serving members of the team. Jim comments:

“It’s really exciting time for the business and I’m thrilled with this new role. There have been so many new developments with our products over the past year alone and I’m looking forward to getting more opportunities to work closely with our customers to deliver them.  It’s good to be able to be able to work on solutions from design through to development.”

At Forward Solutions Jim is responsibility for infrastructure including installations and setup, connectivity, cloud services, so, everything technical Forward Solutions is currently recruiting for additional Infrastructure Engineers to join its team.

Forward Solutions Managing Director Richard Litchfield adds:

“I’m really pleased that Jim will be leading our team of engineers and it’s great to be able to nurture talent and promote from within the business, as we continue to evolve and grow.”

In his spare time Jim enjoys CrossFit and is currently training for an East Midlands competition. CrossFit is a fitness regimen developed over the past 20 years that involves constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity.

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The Forward Solutions team is one of the longest established freight software development companies, providing an end-to-end solution for a wide range of operators in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US.  The company provides IT systems for leading multimodal players across air freight, sea freight, road freight and rail freight.

The firm started the year as Forward Computers and ends with a new MD, new name, new look as well as significant new product development, increased turnover and growth.  The team also attended flagship transport show Multimodal for the first time for many years.

Forward Solutions Managing Director Richard Litchfield, who joined the company in April comments:

“The company has made huge strides this year both in terms of refining our products, as well as significantly changing the operation to becoming much more customer focused.  The massive changes have resulted in significant growth, with an increase in turnover in excess of 25%.”

“This expansion is a result of on-going investment in the business, demonstrating to our customer and the market we are at the forefront of new technology.  Assisting the sector with innovation continues to be essential for growth, where the most successful operators are those which embrace investment in new technology adoption. Forwarders that offer online solutions of transportation management are leading the way, and utilising the latest technology to improve their customer experience.”

In the summer Forward Solutions announced a half a million-pound investment in redeveloping and reengineering its product portfolio.  Marking its largest investment in development to date will see an additional User Interface (UI) to utilise the existing feature rich solution which will be rolled out in early 2022, ensuring its software is more intuitive and easier to use.

Richard adds: “January is going to be very significant for us, the new UI is our largest single investment in reshaping our front-end and is the first of many developments we’re making to ensure our customers have best-in-class technology, to help them improve efficiencies and deliver the best solutions to meet their continually evolving needs.”

It is expected that 2022 will have its own challenges – such as continued Brexit changes, retirement of CHIEF services and moving to CDS, as well as the growing appetite for greater sustainability within transport and logistics. All of which is focusing operators on the need to increase efficiency and communication through improved technology.

Forward Solutions is part of the Freight Software Group and sister company of BoxTop Technologies.  Together the duo has an existing portfolio of over 350 customers.

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The use of Customs Handling Imports and Export Freight (CHIEF) to submit import declarations for goods brought into Northern Ireland from outside the UK and EU is being phased out, which means movements from mainland UK to NI will require a declaration on CDS.

From 31 October 2021, the CDS (Customs Declaration Service) will replace CHIEF for these movements.

So, unless companies use the Customs Declaration Service for the movement of goods into and out of Northern Ireland, the trade will not be permitted.

Richard Litchfield, Managing Director of Forward Solutions, said:  “It is vital that anyone wanting to ship goods into or out of Northern Ireland, after the end of October, switches to CDSNI. It is the only option for declaring movements of goods in and out of Northern Ireland and without it, all movements will be halted.

“We have been planning for this change for some time, and we are one of only a handful of freight software providers that will be CDSNI-ready before the end of October. This means that all our customers who rely on trade with Northern Ireland will experience a smooth transition away from CHIEF. Our specialist IT systems, adapted for the move away from CHIEF, will enable customers to keep on moving goods in and out of Northern Ireland as normal.”

Richard added:  “While there is still the Trader Support Scheme (TSS NI) this is not suitable for more than occasional declarations and does not have full functionality. This is why we have been so focused on ensuring we are CDSNI-ready, so that we can be of maximum assistance to our customers.”

Steve Spence, Application Manager at Denholm Global Logistics, and a Forward Solutions customer, said:

“Forward Solutions is always at least one step ahead of the post-Brexit changes. Our ability to move goods into and out of Northern Ireland is an important part of our business now and going forward.

“Knowing that we have the right IT solutions in place ahead of time is extremely reassuring.”

The Forward team is led by logistics specialists with technology expertise who have a deep understanding of the operational challenges faced by freight operators.

Forward recently announced half a million-pound investment in redeveloping and reengineering its product portfolio. Forward Solutions is developing an additional User Interface (UI) to utilise the existing feature-rich solution which will be rolled out in 2022.

Forward is one of the longest established freight software development companies, providing end-to-end solutions for a wide range of operators in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US.

Forward Solutions is also revamping the presentation of its Forward Office software to a suite of eight products designed to meet different customer needs.  Packages now start from a Forward Core – essential services package with additions such as integrated customs clearance, mobile apps and API integration.

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