Company Name: Wincanton Plc (Swindon)
Number of employees: 109 at Swindon, 30,000 company-wide
Core area of business: Transport & Warehousing
Public Qualifications: Young LGV Driver Scheme, NVQs
The Business Challenge
Wincanton Plc is a leading European supply chain services provider. It runs a fleet of 6,500 vehicles and generates £1.9 billion in annual revenue. Based in Chippenham, it boasts approximately 250 locations around the UK and a further 150 across Europe. Four years ago the staff at the Swindon site were looking at a combination of staffing issues including recruitment and retention, driver shortages and an ageing workforce. They were also keen to develop new ways of working more closely with the local community.
Whilst the company is a European business it has strong links with its West Country roots and one issue that was identified was a need to develop more home grown talent by finding new recruits that were interested in opportunities to work as goods vehicle drivers.
The Solution
The organisation tried a couple of approaches to bring local people through the ranks including a programme through Jobcentre Plus and another which involved training warehouse staff to become drivers. Russ Bithell, the driver training manager, was also keen to look at other alternatives and chose to put 4 local young people through Skills for Logistics’ Young Driver Scheme.
This scheme enables a young person to obtain a full Category C (Rigid) driving licence at the age of 18 rather than 21 with the option to progress to C+E from as little as six months after gaining the C licence. It is integrated into the Driving Goods Vehicle Apprenticeship which provides both the funding and a structured learning programme covering all aspects of the truck driver’s job, far beyond just passing the driving test.
Once the driving test has been passed young drivers are able to do a real and productive job, driving lorries unaccompanied. The skills and knowledge they gain from both the training and the practical experience are certificated by the awarding of the Driving Goods Vehicle NVQ which is a mandatory element of the Young Driver Scheme.
Although Wincanton was initially introduced to the Driving Goods Vehicle NVQ as part of the Young Driver Scheme, it has proved such an effective way of both training drivers and recognizing their skills that it is now being integrated into the driver development programme for the entire workforce.
The Results
Wincanton has benefited from gaining four well-rounded, educated young drivers - their work ethic is excellent, their approach is mature and they have gained a great deal of confidence from the training. Across the depot as a whole Wincanton has, as a result of using the qualification, benefited from:
- improved staff retention
- a lower vehicle accident rate
- a workforce with improved communications skills
- increased staff morale
