Meet Prokhor Shakshin – Corporate Projects

Who am I?

My name is Prokhor Shakshin, but everyone calls me “Pro”. I am one of Carousel’s newest recruits; currently based in our Frankfurt office in Germany.

I am responsible for the company’s ‘Corporate Projects’ arm; the lion’s share of which is focused on Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), supporting in the company’s ambitious growth strategy. Having just completed my third month at Carousel, in this blog, I reflect on my first few months at the company.

Why Carousel?

I discovered Carousel while at a crossroads in my professional life.

Namely, I was facing a dilemma: should I continue my career in Banking, or should I take a U-turn and enter a new industry? I did favour the second option more, and openly shared my change-vision with my network. Due to these discussions, a connection of mine (a logistics-expert with years of C-Level experience in the sector), introduced Carousel to me. The pitch was exciting – an innovative European firm, constantly growing and on the hunt for new for talent? He’d certainly got my curiosity.

Five minutes into the website – Carousel had my attention; a large private equity-backed company, with  service centres located in six countries, a network with a full European coverage, and even an own nightly aircraft! Apart from such impressive business credentials, the Carousel’s website message of genuine care for both its clients and employees resonated with me, so it will come as no surprise – I applied.

The overall recruitment process was excellent, with quick and thorough bilateral feedback; all the interviews reminded me of a discussion, rather than an “interrogation”. What I loved about the final interview was that we were actually checking if a “Carousel – Pro” synergy existed, and if yes – where: i.e. which of my top skills and passions could be applied to which particular business need; do we have a connection on the “whatever it takes, and more” life mentality…?  The more we discussed, the closer we were to reaching a match – almost on a philosophical level!

Eventually, it did result in an official offer to me. At this point, I was confident that if a company was so meticulous about its recruitment, then it must also care greatly about the quality of service it provides to clients, and ultimately, the value it brings to the customers of those organisations.

Hence, I said “yes”.

And so the first synergy, Carousel Logistics – Pro, was established.

My journey so far?

Brilliant.

The “Welcome on Board” has been tremendous. As well as a complete M&A briefing from Carousel’s Chief Executive Officer and Strategic Relationship Director, I also had the opportunity to get under the skin of the company. In my first few weeks I visited our in-night operations in Frankfurt; I helped load the aircraft; I spoke to the pilots and even sat in the cockpit! I also assisted in filling our trucks at the warehouse in Munich and finally, but most importantly, I got to know ‘Team Carousel’ – having the opportunity to speak to colleagues both offline and online.

What happened next?

After the action-packed “Induction Week”, I’ve hit the ground running and am now absorbed in researching a range of M&A targets for the business, including financial analyses of the latter, plus communication / negotiation with the major shareholders.

My day-to-day at work, however, can be quite diverse. What I like the most is that a lot of my colleagues love to work collaboratively. This means I’ve had the chance to work with lots of other departments, which is great as you feel like you can bring extra value. Most recently, I collaborated with our sales, pricing and finance teams, which is not only diverse, but I’m also learning something new every day!

Speaking about learning, I also do my best to keep-up with others at Carousel and dedicate some time daily to browse our online learning platform, which offers courses on almost all topics free-of-charge to all employees. It’s through this platform, combined with lots of ‘on the job’ learning, that I’ve learnt a lot about the business and our service. I’ve picked up some useful new skills and applications, structured my strategies for fulfilling the objectives, had several productive meetings with the M&A targets and, most importantly, bonded with Team Carousel.

Therefore, the second synergy, Team Carousel – Pro, has now been formed too!

So, what next?

Apart from learning more, I plan to focus my time on my key responsibilities, namely – Carousel’s “Buy – Build – Partner” strategy. My top priority is to continue my search for more European, asset-light logistics businesses to join the Carousel group of companies. Specifically, those with a similar culture to Carousel and that a shared focus of providing excellent customer service, no matter what it takes. This is my favourite part of the job because, just like during my interview at Carousel, this process involves me having an open discussion with likeminded companies, in order to see how we can better support our clients and help each other to grow.

Since our dream at Carousel is to become the number one European provider of service-logistics for aftermarket and spare parts, our approach will be to continue growing our robust network, at pace, to ensure we can continue to meet the ever-rising demand for service logistics. By acquiring or merging with other likeminded businesses, we will continue to grow and add value to our clients – or in other words, “together we are stronger!” Carousel has already acquired three businesses in the last three years, and my role now is to help make our ambition a reality by exploring new potential opportunities for 2020 and beyond.

Finally, the question for now is, could a synergy between Carousel Logistics and your organisation, soon be established? Talk to me if you’d like to know more.

If you would like to learn more about Carousel, discuss potential synergies and explore the possible M&A opportunities together, do drop me a line via LinkedIn or at prokhor.shakshin@carousel.eu – I am always available to a chat.