From Trainee to Head of Transport: How Investing in Constellation’s Team Benefits Our Customers – Jesse Williams, General Manager for Transport Norway 

My name is Jesse Williams. I was born in New Zealand, but I’ve spent the last four years working for Constellation Cold Logistics in Norway. During that time, I’ve risen through the ranks from a Management Trainee to a General Manager for Transport Norway at one of Europe’s fastest growing cold logistics companies. My journey shows how our network creates meaningful opportunities for career development, cross-border learning, and, ultimately, leverages both to continuously improve our service for our customers. 

I began my career as part of the management trainee programme at Glacio, just as that business became a part of Constellation. This wasn’t just a turning point in my career – it marked the beginning of an ambitious phase of modernisation and growth throughout Norway and across the Constellation network.

As a trainee, I rotated through our Norwegian transport office, warehouses, and head office, gaining hands-on experience across the business. I helped modernise operations by replacing a 20-year-old paper-dependent database with our new Transport Management System, and led projects focused on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of our service. I saw firsthand how Constellation professionalises the businesses that join the network, while ensuring that they maintain – and are able to share – their local expertise. That experience showed me that growth is not just about entering new markets – it’s about developing our team to build a smarter, more responsive cold logistics network for our existing customers. 

Investing in People and Sharing Knowledge

Constellation’s growth has created a wealth of opportunities for every team member. With additional resources, there are more chances to learn, take on new roles, and even travel across Europe to exchange ideas with colleagues in different markets. 

I’ve experienced this firsthand: from a stint in Sweden right after Constellation acquired Göteborgs Frysehus, to several trips to the UK, the Netherlands, and Belgium over the course of my training. These visits helped me build connections across the network, so when we’re working on new solutions for our customers in Norway, we know exactly who to speak to for the right information and advice.

This culture of open communication and shared learning has been key to Constellation’s success. Even our cross-network Constellation football matches are part of that culture. As our team’s shared knowledge deepens, we’re empowered to implement continual improvements that drive operational excellence and deliver outstanding service to our customers.

Driving Operational Excellence

At the end of my training, I stepped into my new role as General Manager for Transport Norway – a position that brought together everything I’d learned, from digitising outdated systems to understanding the daily realities of warehouse operations across our network. I wanted to use that experience to make real, lasting improvements to our operations. Within a year, the changes we implemented helped to deliver a six million kroner boost to our bottom line.

In early 2025, we rolled out new systems for transport, fleet, and time management. These tools are already helping us to work more efficiently, respond faster to customer needs, and make better use of our data to drive decisions.

This kind of progress doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s the result of Constellation’s continued investment in its people – creating space to travel, connect, and learn across borders. The stronger our internal network becomes, the better we’re able to adapt, innovate, and deliver exceptional service to our customers across Europe.