Muhammad Alyan
A globe with a gold route drawn from Pakistan, through the Suez Canal, to London.

My story

The long way here.

I grew up helping in my father's shop in a small village in Bahawalpur, in Pakistan's Punjab. The road from that counter to an MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management in London took longer than I planned, and I paid for most of it myself, one shift at a time.

  1. —A ship goes sideways
  2. 01Behind the counter
  3. 02Plan B
  4. 03London, at last
  5. 04On the doors
  6. 05Saving up
  7. 06The degree I paid for
  8. 07Taking the first step
  9. 08Off the clock
  10. 09What's next

PrologueSuez Canal · March 2021

I came to this industry because of a ship.

In March 2021 the Ever Given went sideways in the Suez Canal, and for six days everyone I knew was talking about a subject none of them had thought about before. I found it remarkable that something as ordinary as a box moving from one place to another could hold that much of the world in place, and I decided then that this was the work I wanted to do.

I was studying business at The Islamia University of Bahawalpur at the time. But the story starts earlier than that.

Noor Mahal, Bahawalpur · photo via Wikimedia Commons

01Bahawalpur, Punjab · Growing up

Behind the counter

I grew up in a small village in Bahawalpur, in the south of Punjab. My father is a shopkeeper, and from my teens I helped him run the shop around my studies. Looking back, it was my first supply chain: shelves to keep stocked, customers to keep coming back, and a family depending on both.

I studied FSc Pre-Engineering at the Punjab Group of Colleges in Bahawalpur, and set my heart on a bachelor's degree in the UK.

Aerial view of the main gate of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur and the tree-lined avenue behind it.
The Islamia University of BahawalpurPhoto: The Islamia University of Bahawalpur
Aerial view of the main gate of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur and the tree-lined avenue behind it.
The Islamia University of BahawalpurPhoto: The Islamia University of Bahawalpur

02The Islamia University of Bahawalpur

Plan B

The UK plan didn't come through after my FSc, so I enrolled on a BBA at The Islamia University of Bahawalpur instead. I took a part-time job at a pharmacy halfway between home and campus so that I could pay my own way. My father's shop supports the whole family, and with three younger sisters still in education, I didn't want to add to the load.

In 2022 I project-managed an eight-person team through the Young Entrepreneurship Summit's 48-hour hackathon. We finished in the top 7 of 30 teams.

Muhammad in his graduation gown beneath the City of London crest.
Graduating from Coventry University London
Muhammad in his graduation gown beneath the City of London crest.
Graduating from Coventry University London

03Coventry University London · 2022–23

London, at last

Three years into my BBA, the UK plan finally came together. I chose a one-year top-up, the BA (Hons) Global Business at Coventry University's London campus, building on what I'd studied at IUB. My father paid my first fees, with help from my uncle here in the UK; the rest I paid myself, working part-time alongside the degree and supporting myself.

I arrived with big hopes and studied wholeheartedly. Graduating was a proud moment, for me and for everyone who had backed me.

Muhammad in a hi-vis vest, taking a selfie on a residential street of front doors.
On the doors with Hydra Sales Group
A Hydra Sales Group daily evaluation sheet: 27 people, 19 intros, 3 closes.
A day's evaluation: 27 people, 19 intros, 3 closes
Muhammad in a hi-vis vest, taking a selfie on a residential street of front doors.
On the doors with Hydra Sales Group
A Hydra Sales Group daily evaluation sheet: 27 people, 19 intros, 3 closes.
A day's evaluation: 27 people, 19 intros, 3 closes

04London · Nov 2023 – Jun 2024

On the doors

After graduating I went into door-to-door sales as a Brand Ambassador with Hydra Sales Group, selling fibre broadband. I enjoyed it: every door is a fresh pitch, and most of them say no. But the pay was commission-only, and the patches kept moving further out and costing more to reach.

It made something clear. The career I wanted, in supply chain and in the corporate world I'd pictured since Bahawalpur, needed more than a good pitch. It needed a master's.

The dining area of a German Doner Kebab restaurant, with the orange GDK sign on the wall.
German Doner Kebab, London
The kitchen line at German Doner Kebab: doner spits, fryers and the salad and sauce counter.
The kitchen line on a shift
The dining area of a German Doner Kebab restaurant, with the orange GDK sign on the wall.
German Doner Kebab, London
The kitchen line at German Doner Kebab: doner spits, fryers and the salad and sauce counter.
The kitchen line on a shift

05German Doner Kebab, London · Since Oct 2024

Saving up

A referral led to a job as a Shift Supervisor at German Doner Kebab. It gave me what sales couldn't: a steady income I could save towards the MSc. Running a shift is operations at street level, with people, stock and a queue that won't wait, and I kept running them right through the degree.

Muhammad on the lawn in front of the Founder's Building at Royal Holloway, Egham.
Royal Holloway, Egham
Muhammad on the lawn in front of the Founder's Building at Royal Holloway, Egham.
Royal Holloway, Egham

06Royal Holloway, University of London · 2025–26

The degree I paid for

In 2025 I started the MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at Royal Holloway, University of London. It was a great decision, and I paid for every bit of it myself. My best module mark was 77, in Purchasing and Inventory Management, and my dissertation asked how UK logistics firms are adapting their workforce strategy to automation. My supervisor's provisional feedback called it “of excellent quality”.

The degree also got me out of the classroom: onto sites at DP World London Gateway, DHL at Gatwick, BMW's Mini plant in Oxford and Marks & Spencer distribution centres; to Wilson James's construction consolidation centre in Silvertown on a CILT visit; and to Axis Park, where I presented on sustainable logistics to NOW Construction and SEGRO. I joined CILT as a Member and CIPS as an Affiliate. The people I met across the industry and in academia are what I value most from the year.

Out in the field

Muhammad with a CILT group in hi-vis in front of a Wilson James lorry at the Silvertown consolidation centre.
CILT visit, Wilson James consolidation centre, Silvertown
Muhammad outside the DP World building at London Gateway.
Insight day, DP World London Gateway
Muhammad in the Logistics UK Theatre at Multimodal 2026.
Multimodal 2026, NEC Birmingham
Muhammad in front of a Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport banner.
CILT event, Fenny Lock, Milton Keynes
Muhammad presenting a slide on lean logistics and waste in construction flows.
Presenting on sustainable logistics, Axis Park
Senate House, London · photo by stevecadman, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Muhammad at the ACLC stand, recruiting new members in Senate House.
The ACLC stand, Senate House
Muhammad beside the TEDxRoyalHolloway lectern.
TEDxRoyalHolloway, June 2026
Muhammad at the ACLC stand, recruiting new members in Senate House.
The ACLC stand, Senate House
Muhammad beside the TEDxRoyalHolloway lectern.
TEDxRoyalHolloway, June 2026

07Royal Holloway · 2026

Taking the first step

Our London campus, at Senate House, had nothing like it, so in January 2026 I co-founded ACLC, the Academic Community London Campus, and sat on its committee as events coordinator. We set its governance and founding membership from scratch.

In June 2026 we put on TEDxRoyalHolloway, the campus's first TEDx, on “The Importance of the Human Element”, with a six-person committee, four speakers and a £150 budget. Then I set up a stand to recruit the next intake to join and run the society, so that it carries on after us.

If something is missing, I'd rather take the first step than wait for someone else to.

Muhammad holding a racket and shuttlecock on a badminton court at Enfield Drill Hall.
Badminton at Enfield Drill Hall
A cricket humour book, The Laugh's On Us, held up in front of a red phone box filled with books.
A phone-box library find
A display at Lord's of green Pakistan cricket balls above a panel on Pakistan's first Test there in 1954.
Lord's: Pakistan's first Test there, 1954
Muhammad holding a racket and shuttlecock on a badminton court at Enfield Drill Hall.
Badminton at Enfield Drill Hall
A cricket humour book, The Laugh's On Us, held up in front of a red phone box filled with books.
A phone-box library find
A display at Lord's of green Pakistan cricket balls above a panel on Pakistan's first Test there in 1954.
Lord's: Pakistan's first Test there, 1954

08Outside work

Off the clock

I play badminton twice a week at Enfield Drill Hall, where I help organise a social group. I follow cricket and football: I'm an FC Barcelona supporter and a member of Penya Blaugrana London, and I get to football fixtures and comedy nights when I can. When I can get out of the city, I go hiking.

I read widely, from self-help to fantasy. My favourite self-help book is Atomic Habits, and I'm subscribed to James Clear's weekly newsletter. Its central idea, that small habits compound, is a fair description of how I got here.

Along the way

A few of the things I'm proudest of, in the order they happened.

Top 7
of 30 teams
Young Entrepreneurship Summit 48-hour hackathon, 2022. I was project manager for a team of eight.
BA (Hons)
Global Business
Coventry University London, 2022–23: a one-year top-up after three years at IUB.
77
Purchasing and Inventory Management
My best module mark on the MSc.
Self-funded
MSc, Royal Holloway
Every pound of it from my own shifts.
Co-founder
ACLC, Academic Community London Campus
Set up its governance and founding membership, then recruited the next intake to run it.
First TEDx
on our campus
TEDxRoyalHolloway, June 2026: six organisers, four speakers and a £150 budget.

09Next

What's next

I'm looking for my first full-time role in supply chain, logistics, procurement or operations. I've seen the work from a shop counter, a pharmacy, people's doorsteps, a restaurant floor and a dissertation. Now I want to do it properly.

See my CV Email me Back to the research
Photographs: Noor Mahal, Bahawalpur, via Wikimedia Commons. Senate House, London, by stevecadman, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The Islamia University of Bahawalpur gate, from the university's website (iub.edu.pk). All other photographs are my own. Maps drawn from Natural Earth public-domain data.