Life’s beginning at 50 for Lloyd

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind for Lloyd Hadland – who is rewriting the rulebook to prove that the fun actually starts when you’re about to hit 50.

In the past six months the 49-yearold has become a grandad, changed jobs within DHL and got married… on a tropical island!

First came the arrival of a “pride and joy” grandchild born to his 24-year-old daughter, which led to the second big change… when he and his long-term girlfriend Sonia tied the knot in Jamaica.

Successfully

“When the baby came, we decided that after 17 years we needed to make things a little more permanent in case anything happened to us,” he says.

of 16 guests to Runaway Bay where the ceremony was performed on sundrenched golden sands.

Sonia used to work for DHL until 2007 and successfully recommended Lloyd for a job in UK Mail, before promptly leaving two weeks later.

“That was probably for the best,” jokes Lloyd. “Seriously, though, it would have

This January saw Lloyd join our Excellence team, part of our HR function, as a facilitator.

He says: “I’m really loving the new role

Five Minutes with…

and the many opportunities that the next 12 months will bring.

Rising stars

Programme so every colleague can discover more about our business.”

And he adds: This year we’re inviting managers, supervisors and rising stars on a journey to become leaders of the future by guiding them through the CEM Supervisory Academy.”

Ryton-based Linehaul Night Driver Roberto Nicoletti

How long have you worked at DHL?

Nearly four years. I’m from a small place in southern Brazil called Santa Catarina. I left there and worked in Portugal, Italy and Germany and then some of our competitors in south London before joining the Croydon site. I only wish I’d joined earlier. Why’s that?

Everyone in the business is so friendly and they all share the same values. My boss when I was at Croydon (Peter Whittaker, now at

Sittingbourne) was amazing and gave me my break. I’m so grateful to him for welcoming me to one of the biggest logistics companies in the world. Why did you leave?

My wife Elisandra and I needed a change and wanted to buy a home but everything was so expensive in London, so I thought about moving jobs within the business. That’s the beauty of working for DHL. There’s scope to progress your career

Where did you end up?

We moved to Ryton last year and bought a house. Elisandra got a job as a Despatch Clerk at Ryton and she loves it. She won the Employee of the Month award soon after so things are looking really good for us both career and home-wise. The best thing about your job? It’s got to be the people. Everyone is always as one and has each other’s back. places around Europe but never anywhere like this, where managers and their teams work together with pride. You’re Brazilian with Italian ancestors and love England.

So what’s your footie team?

I have a Brazilian heart, Italian blood and an English soul, but when it comes down to football it would always be Brazil, the inventors of the beautiful game. Are your wandering days over now? feel really settled, love our jobs and the people we work with. And as we’ve seen there’s huge scope to move location or roles within the business, so career progression is very much encouraged at DHL. Who knows where we’ll be in 10 years?