Congratulations to David Macken 2025 Young Irish Freight Forwarder of the Year!

We are incredibly proud of our colleague David Macken, who was officially awarded the title of Irish International Freight Association (IIFA) Young Irish Freight Forwarder of the Year 2025. Representing Hawthorn Logistics Solutions Ltd. David delivered an outstanding performance in this highly respected national competition. His thesis covered two time-critical operations: Exporting live seafood from Ireland to Hong Kong via air freight Importing essential AOG helicopter parts for urgent rescue operations David’s expertise, strategic planning, and professional confidence truly impressed the IIFA Steering Group. He now goes on to represent Ireland at the FIATA Young Logistics Professional Award, where entries from across Europe will be reviewed — with a chance to compete globally at the FIATA World Congress in Vietnam this October. Hawthorn Logistics Solutions Ltd was established in 2007 and since then we have had several winners of this prestigious title through its various iterations. William Wang Lei was our first successful entrant in 2010, followed by Silvia Valles Barrera in 2011. Silvia went on the secure the European title and continued that trend with Global success, being named World Young Freight Forwarder of the Year by FIATA. Since Silvia’s success we have been lucky to have had Peter Furlong (2017) and Joseph Wylie (2018) and Manuel Cristobal Diez (2021) selected to represent Ireland globally at FIATA level. As a company we value the vibrancy and dynamism that our apprentices bring to both our work and more importantly our culture. We work with these young people to provide an environment where they can grow their industry knowledge and their own careers. Well done, David — your team is behind you all the way!