Frank Relihan joined Swanline in March this year as our Transport Planner. Frank was originally working for our sister company, BoxMart on a temporary contract. Once that contract was up, he was highly recommended to Swanline by Managing Director, Jo Offord.
Frank has over 35 years of experience in the printing industry, with 30 of those years being spent in newspaper printing, working for the same family run newspaper business all those years as a press room manager. Sadly, as the newspaper industry had been declining for many years, they finally closed the business during the pandemic lockdown. “I wasn’t sure what to do,” Explains Frank, “I had been with the same company for so many years, I didn’t have a CV and wasn’t even sure how to act in an interview!” Luckily his experience and loyalty spoke for itself and BoxMart snatched him up. “I thought the short-term contract would give me some breathing room, some time to think about what I would do next. Before I knew it, BoxMart had recommended me to Swanline who were looking for a transport planner and I couldn’t have been more pleased. I made some great friends at BoxMart and really enjoyed myself there, but so happy they put my name forward to Swanline.”
Frank has been learning on the job in his new role, which is becoming more and more varied by the day. More recently he has been conducting vehicle inspections to make sure they’re road worthy and safe, as healthy and safety are very important at Swanline. Overall, Frank organises the transport of Swanline’s delivery jobs, which use not only our own vehicles but also a local haulier. Frank has to keep on top of production and see what is ready to go and when, or what needs to be put back. “I really appreciate sorting the logistics out, making sure everything is arriving on time. The actual planning itself, having to work out the weights and the timings, is something I really enjoy. I like figuring out if drivers have time to go out and deliver and come back so that they can go out again, but I also really like the people I work with. My team are great, everyone is really helpful and even if they’re not on your team, other colleagues are willing to offer advice and help you, their frame of mind seems to be, if they can help you – they will! Which makes for a great work atmosphere. Whether it’s my manager Nerissa or working alongside Emma and Liz or Rikki – or even Jamie on the yard or the drivers, everyone is willing to help you out if you need it. I’ve learnt so much in a short amount of time and it’s because of them.”
Frank spends a lot of his time with his family, as well as being a keen walker. Frank also enjoys playing football and golf in his spare time, though admits a lot of his spare time involves driving his kids around to their activities!
Frank’s one piece of advice is: “Never give up. Never fall at the first hurdle, not everything is straight forward or easy in life, but if you run away the moment you hit an obstacle, you may never achieve everything you could. That’s what I’m always telling my kids.”