Celebrating Excellence: Unveiling the Champions of the Everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards

A recent publication by everywoman highlights the remarkable achievements of women in the transport and logistics sector at the 2025 everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards, held in partnership with bp. This year’s event, which took place in London, was a record-breaking affair, celebrating its 18th anniversary and showcasing women who are making significant strides through innovative leadership and vision.

The awards serve as a beacon for aspiring female professionals, encouraging them to explore diverse career opportunities within this vibrant industry. Despite some advancements toward gender equality, women still represent only about 26% of the workforce in transport and merely 20% within logistics and warehousing sectors.

This year’s ceremony underscored shifting industry priorities with an emphasis on automation and sustainability. A new Entrepreneur category was introduced to honor trailblazing women establishing their own ventures amidst ongoing challenges like an 11% gender pay gap and underrepresentation of women in leadership roles.

Maxine Benson, co-founder of everywoman, remarked: “The finalists this year exemplify how women are not just participating but leading innovation across our sector. Their stories reflect a wealth of opportunities for future generations.”

heather Waugh received the prestigious everywoman Woman of the Year Award for her role as Scotland’s sole female freight train driver at Freightliner. Based in Airdrie, Heather dedicates over 1,000 hours annually to advocate for her field through school visits and charity work while managing long shifts without direct communication access—organizing events entirely on her own time.

Rather than voicing complaints about workplace issues, Heather actively seeks solutions; she campaigned successfully for better facilities like women’s restrooms within freight operations. Recognizing mental health struggles among drivers led her to push for enhanced support systems. As a volunteer with Samaritans promoting mental health awareness training courses tailored for those in transportation roles, she also serves on Rail Wellbeing Live’s steering group and is a trustee at Women in Rail.

In fundraising efforts through Railway Family Fundraiser—a project she initiated—Heather has united over 60 rail companies to raise more than £100K over three years supporting various causes including Ukrainian Railways and local charities.

The awards celebrated excellence across numerous categories such as apprentice of the Year (won by Amelia Warren from Amazon), Industry Champion (Rachel Gilbey from Wincanton), International Inspiration (Zofia Sobiech from Amazon), Male Agent of Change (Rob Fletcher from PepsiCo), Tech Innovator (Diane Gilpin from Smart Green Shipping), Sustainability Champion (Kate Samuels from Sustrans) among others.

• Apprentice Award: Amelia Warren is dedicated to increasing visibility for young women engineers; she organized an event that brought together over 40 female apprentices during International Women’s Day celebrations.
• Entrepreneur Award: Alisha Fredriksson co-founded Seabound focusing on carbon capture technology aimed at reducing emissions within maritime shipping—a sector where less than 2% are female professionals.
• Sustainability Champion: Kate Samuels advocates accessible infrastructure promoting walking or cycling while influencing policy changes across multiple political levels—working closely with more than a hundred politicians!

Maxine Benson MBE along with Karen Gill MBE expressed pride stating: “Our winners embody authentic role models whose journeys will inspire newcomers throughout transport logistics.” They emphasized that these stories reveal vast potential pathways available within this dynamic field that can empower future generations towards ambitious goals confidently!

Stella Brenninkmeijer from bp added: “We’re thrilled to support these awards again which highlight extraordinary contributions made by remarkable women reshaping our industry.”