From lorry driver to warehouse manager: how Nestlé UK’s head of logistics earned his stripes

When you go into the supermarket for your favourite Nestlé products, you probably don’t give much thought as to how those items got there. But the same can’t be said for Richard Hastings.

As the head of logistics for Nestlé UK and Ireland, it’s the responsibility of Richard and his team to make sure that shop shelves across the UK are stocked with all the Nestlé essentials – from Shreddies and KitKat to Nescafé Gold Blend and Dolce Gusto pods.

Richard’s Nestlé career began in 1990, with a work placement as part of his degree in supply chain and logistics.

“It was meant to be just 12 months, but I think I did nearly 16 in the end,” he says, explaining that he was immediately thrown in at the deep end. “And within two weeks of joining, I was sent to work in Scotland for six months!”

After graduation, Richard worked for his dad for a bit before setting off to see the world – but it wasn’t long before Nestlé came calling with an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“I was in Penang when I got a fax from my parents saying I’d received a letter from Nestlé,” he explains.

“They asked me to go back for six months to do a temporary project, which I did, and then I was supposed to then carry on travelling.

“Well, that six month project became three years, and then, of course, I've been here ever since… and I still haven't finished the project,” he jokes.

Over the course of his 30-plus years at Nestlé, Richard says he has done “pretty much every job” in logistics.

“I've done all the warehouse jobs, from walking around picking boxes to forklift driving. I’ve done pretty much every job in transport, from driving trucks to vehicle scheduling, driver management, and running the entire transport team.

“On the other side, I've done systems,