A MESSAGE FROM STEVE WILLIAMS
WELCOME BACK TO PORTICO NEWS
You might have noticed Portico News looks a little different, we’ve updated our brand design to reflect the diverse areas of the business, there’s more to Portico than just our green logo. It will help to put a spotlight on the range of activity in the business and the specialisms we offer.
Another new addition is Audrey Emmett, who joins us as our new business development manager and will be part of the logistics team, which has been recently restructured and now sees Matt Green as Head of Portico Logistics –Commercial and Daphne Comber as Head of Portico Logistics - Customs.
Following the hard work of the facilities team our new warehouse is now open for business, which is another opportunity to attract different cargo and diversify operations. We’ll be working on securing a tenant for the building, as we know there’s a shortage of storage in our region.
Finally I’d like to share with you all your responses to our latest staff survey, we really appreciate all the feedback and it helps us to understand what’s working and what needs improving, so take a closer look. Taking on board suggestions we’re keeping Portico News, but making it shorter and more relevant, we’ll let you know what’s happening in the business and also feature lighter stories about you the staff too.
porticoshipping.com SEPTEMBER 2023
NEWS
PORTICO NEWS – WHAT’S CHANGING?
Earlier in the year we took a break from publishing Portico News and asked for your views on what you want to see from internal comms. Nearly 90 of you got back to us with feedback which we have analysed and taken on board and now we’re back with a new and improved Portico News. We’re sure you’ve already noticed a few changes, so we wanted to explain the results in more detail and what we’ve done and why.
HOW YOU’RE READING IT…
We asked: HOW WOULD YOU PREFER TO READ PORTICO NEWS?
You said:
• EMAIL ATTACHMENTS
• PAPER COPIES
• NOTICE BOARDS
So we’re upping our game to bring you physical, printed copies which will be distributed amongst mess rooms and kitchens. You’ll also still receive an email copy into your inbox to read at your leisure.
Portico News will also be a lot shorter in length, based on your mentions of making it less text heavy. This means you’ll easily be able to grab a copy and read it whilst your tea is brewing and still find out the information you need.
WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW…
We asked: WHAT INFORMATION ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN A STAFF NEWSLETTER?
You said:
• BUSINESS UPDATES AND DEVELOPMENTS
• INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR COLLEAGUES
So we’re refocusing our content to make it driven by you and shine a light on the work individuals are doing across departments. We will also share performance stats and explain how roles play into the bigger picture and where Portico sits within the industry.
HOW REGULARLY YOU’LL SEE IT...
We asked: HOW OFTEN WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE EDITIONS OF PORTICO NEWS?
You said: MONTHLY
Portico News will now be published on a six week basis, giving us time to capture content that is relevant to the time of release and providing you with valuable updates. Once we’re in the swing of things we will review this frequency to see how it is working and whether we need more or less editions a year.
While this is a positive stat, there are still 61% of you who can see room for improvement. To do this we will continue to send all staff emails to update you on system and process changes. We are aware that not everyone has access to emails, so we will be chatting to teams on the quayside to find out ways to reach you more effectively.
39% felt they were kept informed about the organisation
As well as changing how Portico News works, we will also be using your responses to help shape an improved internal comms strategy. Keep an eye out for updates in future editions on how this is developing.
ZOMBIES ATTACK THE TERMINAL!
Last month, Portico hosted the filming of a new zombie movie, being created by local special effects experts. SFX specialist Jeremy Hardin, who is leading the project, commented:
“Thanks to Portico and Portsmouth International Port, ZOMB-JJ were thrilled to be guests at the port for our upcoming feature film set in Portsmouth. The film is for theatrical release in multiple markets.
“When writing the film, news of the port was hitting the headlines, and it was exciting to incorporate Portico into the plot of the ZOMB-JJ. Getting to film at the port almost a year later brought the experience full circle and was even more atmospheric than we imagined.
“This will be one of the first scenes in the film, introducing the main characters, and we are excited to show them in such a cinematic and cool setting. Thank you to the team for hosting us, keeping us safe, and putting Portsmouth on the cinematic map!” Thank you to all the staff that worked with Jeremy and his team to make it all happen.
NEW WAREHOUSE WELCOMES CUSTOMERS
Portico hosted a customer event on Thursday 31 August, where customers old and new were given an exclusive tour of our new general purpose warehouse. This will open later this month.
The warehouse has a spacious footprint combined with a vast 10m x 7.5m main door opening, means the space is suitable for storing a comprehensive range of goods and cargo. A unique feature of this new warehouse is a slab engineered specifically so it can handle our 28t fork truck.
Our customers were suitably impressed and are now fully aware of the possibilities that this superb new facility will bring to the terminal.
