Latest News from Omni

Orphee Beinoglou in Greece has just completed the construction of another big Logistics Hub & Storage Facility in Athens for accommodating its operations, located in the industrial area of Aspropyrgos, around 20 kms from the city and 10 kms from the Port of Piraeus. 

The new facility has 16,000 square meters of covered space on a 51,000 square meter site.  It has 31 loading docks monitored around the clock by 70 CCTV systems and special fire detection and burglary security systems.  

Including this new establishment Orphee Beinoglou operations in Greece are spread across six locations in Athens and Thessaloniki with a total covered space of 105,000 square meters.  The company’s services include: logistics, freight forwarding, household goods, fine arts and exhibitions.

AIReS has announced that Laura May Carmack, Quality Manager, was awarded Global Mobility Professional of the Year by the Forum for Expatriate Management at the EMEA EMMA Awards ceremony. Laura May was chosen from a competitive shortlist of eight nominees in this category and was recognised for her vast leadership experience within the relocation industry and at AIReS. Laura May has also been previously recognised as ‘highly recommended’ in this category at the 2016 Americas and APAC EMMA Awards.

“All of us at AIReS are very proud of Laura May, who is the consummate professional,” said Aires President, Jeff Wangler. “She is the perfect example of someone who got involved with relocation at a young age and has flourished, grown, and become one of the premiere executives not only at AIReS but also in the relocation industry. We are honoured to have her work at AIReS and also to be an important part of the relocation community in EMEA and around the globe.  We look forward to Laura May contributing to AIReS’ future success as she continues to support the industry she loves.”

Laura May has overseen the company’s quality initiatives since 1994 and is a Certified Lead Auditor through the American Society of Quality (ASQ). She is actively involved in many industry organisations, including recent leadership roles with FIDI and the Pan-American International Movers Association (PAIMA). 

Upon receiving the award, Laura May said, “I am honoured to accept this award from the Forum for Expatriate Management. FEM has created a powerful program matching the list of candidates and the esteemed global mobility expert judges panel, who are top in class. To be among this group is a thrilling and humbling experience which I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

John Mason International has been awarded the ‘Consultants Choice Award’ at this year’s Graebel Relocation Alliance.

The award was presented to John Mason International’s chief operating officer Noel Briscoe at the 16th annual Graebel Relocation Alliance in Denver in October. Each year, the Graebel Relocation Alliance recognises top performing global relocation and mobility service partners for the past year.

The winner of the ‘Consultants Choice Award’ is selected based on votes from Graebel move managers around the world who individually vote for their best partners. 

Noel commented: “Last year we were presented with the quality award based on performance/quality scores from Graebel’s assignees, which was a great achievement. To also be recognised by Graebel move managers across the world is another huge achievement, which recognises all the hard work put in by our staff involved on a daily basis.”

Pictured: International move managers Mary Wright and Amanda Hilton.

OMNI is providing its members with financial vetting of shipping lines as part of its continuing compliance programme, providing additional confidence to corporate and Relocation Management Company (RMC) clients.

OMNI (Overseas Moving Network International) has become the first global network of mobility companies to provide financial vetting of the shipping lines its members use for transporting transferees’ household goods.  The move comes in the wake of the demise of the South Korean Hanjin shipping line in August that left an estimated $14billion of cargo stranded and provides increased confidence to OMNI members’ corporate and relocation management clients that transferees’ private possessions will be safe.

OMNI represents over 120 moving and relocation companies worldwide that are all market leaders in their own regions and specialise in handling household goods movements for many large corporations.  The crash of Hanjin highlighted the vulnerability of goods while they are in transit and OMNI has been quick to provide this vetting service, unique in the industry, to its member companies.

The information gathered by OMNI allows it to provide its members with a monthly ‘Freight Operators Financial Stress Review’ showing the comparative health of each shipping company’s finances.  Each member can then choose to use only those lines that are considered to be financially safe or advise clients of any potential risks in their chosen routing.

Ian Waters, General Manager of OMNI, said that the need to provide this new service had become obvious in recent weeks. “The Hanjin crash rocked the industry and caused considerable anxiety for corporations that are relocating employees around the world,” he said. “We felt that it was important for us to react quickly to help protect customers and their transferees and demonstrate that we always have their best interests at heart.”

This new move forms part of OMNI’s growing suite of ‘Risk and Compliance Solutions’ that have taken centre stage within the organisation.  OMNI recognised some years ago that providing corporations with absolute confidence of the integrity of its members – especially with regard to bribery, corruption and money laundering risks – was a key priority and has been working achieve this aim. 

“Compliance and risk management are of primary importance to our members’ customers,” said Ian.  “At OMNI it’s our job to make sure we provide the best possible commercial services to help members meet their customers’ needs.”

OMNI already vets its whole membership to identify potential compliance risks and is currently engaged in an ambitious project to allow all its members to demonstrate to their corporate clients that their whole supply chains are compliant and verified as such by a trusted third party. 

The project is due for completion early in 2017 and a further announcement is expected in January.

New survey for Graebel finds majority of Millennials are willing to relocate for a job, postpone life milestones to live and work in desired destinations 

Millennials are redefining the employment landscape and how domestic and global mobility factor into their lives and careers. A new survey of Millennials by Wakefield Research for Graebel, found 84% of Millennials are willing to relocate for a job, and 82% believe they will be required to relocate if they want to advance their careers. 

Moreover, the survey revealed that Millennials are willing to make significant sacrifices in order to live and work in their ‘dream’ cities in the U.S. and abroad. More than 80% would be willing to take a pay cut if necessary to relocate to a dream destination; 71% would be willing to postpone marriage and 72% would be willing to postpone having children. 

“Twenty years ago, a much smaller percentage of the workforce expected to need to relocate for career advancement,” said Bill Graebel, President and CEO of Graebel. “Now we’re seeing a significant shift toward younger employees relocating, sometimes internationally, and it’s changing how companies think about talent acquisition and retention, and how employees map their lives and careers. Millennials embrace the notion of relocating as a catalyst for achieving career goals.” 

Survey findings include: 

•Millennials on the move: Millennials have a global mindset when it comes to their careers. 84% are willing to relocate for a job, 72% domestically and 41% internationally. 

•Career building through mobility: 82% of Millennials believe eventual relocation will be necessary for career advancement, and 83% say they would give preference to a prospective employee who has worked abroad, if they were in charge of hiring. 

•Motivated by money: When it comes to relocation, Millennials are more motivated by money than by experience. 65% would move to a foreign country for higher income, compared to 35% who would relocate for the experience. 

•Life milestones at home and abroad: To live in their dream destination, 72% of childless Millennials would delay having kids and 71% of single respondents would postpone getting married. However, a large percentage of Millennials would be willing to build a life while working overseas—43% would buy a home, 47% would buy a car, 41% would get a pet and 34% would get married and have children. 

•Independent-minded: Although traditionally, employers not only pay for relocation expenses but also make the arrangements, 78% of Millennials would rather make all the travel and housing decisions themselves using a company stipend. This suggests Millennials are more willing to use web-based tools, social media and smartphones to be more independent transferees. 

•Dream cities: In the USA New York tops the list of dream cities for Millennials, followed by (in order) Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle and San Francisco. London is the most desired city outside the US, followed by Paris, Sydney, Tokyo and Berlin. 

Sonia Fernandes has recently been promoted within Global International Relocation in Portugal to become the company’s import manager.  She joined the company in 2009 as a move coordinator and was promoted to move manager in 2012.  As import manager she now runs the  import team ensuring clear communication with partner agents and a smooth service to clients.

Ana Gaspar has become the new export manager for Global International Relocations in Portugal.  Ana joined the GIR family in September 2013 as a move coordinator. The company said that over the years she has proven to be very capable of taking on greater challenges through her detailed approach and undivided attention to customer needs. As export manager she now runs the company’s export team.

The Suddath Companies has announced a key addition to its Global Moving Services with the appointment of Christopher Jenkins as director of international business development.

Chris has over 12 years of experience in sales management within the international relocation industry, including nine previous years at Suddath® from 2005 to 2014, where he held various roles in B2C and B2B sales. In his new role, Chris will direct and manage the international relocation sales team as well as focus on maximising partnerships with the company’s overseas agent network to offer the strongest possible international programme. 

“Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and a long history of great success in the international space,” said Larry Goldman, Vice President of Global Residential Sales.  “His energy and enthusiasm is contagious and Suddath is very fortunate to have him back to lead our aggressive efforts in this business unit.”

“As consumers’ buying habits evolve and the need for even greater efficiencies and value are expected, I am pleased to bring my knowledge and experience back to Suddath to help meet these needs,” said Chris.  “I look forward to driving the organisation forward and making Suddath a household name in the international moving arena.”

Photo:  Christopher Jenkins