Another record year for Driver Hire

Driver Hire is celebrating another record year of growth.

The Bradford-based firm said turnover for the 12 months to the end of March 2018 rose to £108.5m, an eight per cent increase on the previous year.

It declined to reveal its pre-tax profit figure but, according to accounts filed to Companies House, last year it was £3.8m compared to £3.4m in 2016.

The news marks Driver Hire’s fifth record year in succession and its seventh year of consecutive year-on-year growth.

It follows a record-breaking Christmas when December turnover rose to £13.1m, 14 per cent up on the equivalent period in 2016.

On average, Driver Hire covers 4,200 shifts per week through its network of 100 offices nationwide, from Inverness to Cornwall.

Chris Chidley, Driver Hire’s chief executive said: “Driver Hire continues to deliver a business critical, 24/7, 365 days a year service.

“We work with nationally known, blue chip clients, helping to ensure they meet their delivery deadlines.

“As this strong set of figures shows, not only do we retain customers; we’re doing more business with them.

“Driver Hire’s success is built on quality, so I think it’s important to recognise that we are combining record trading with consistently high standards of service to customers and candidates alike, as shown by our survey results.

“Clearly they trust us to deliver the goods whenever and wherever we’re needed.”

Driver Hire also has five offices in Australia – in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

It said its international arm continues to go from strength to strength and also reported a record year with turnover ending the year just short of £12m.

Now into its 34th year of trading, Driver Hire claims to be the UK’s largest specialist supplier of staff to the road transport and logistics industry.

Driver Hire provides temporary and permanent drivers and other logistics staff to local and national organisations in both the public and private sectors.

If they’re short of staff - perhaps because of illness, holidays or seasonal demand - Driver Hire will supply them with a suitable replacement.

The first Driver Hire office opened in West Yorkshire in 1983, initially supplying temporary drivers to local transport firms.

The original Driver Hire concept was so successful that in 1987 the company started to offer franchise opportunities, with the first franchised office opening in Newcastle later that year.

The business then grew rapidly, and today the vast majority of its network of offices is owned and operated by franchisee business partners.

Last year, the company promoted Michael Dawson to the newly created role of finance director of the logistics division. He was previously financial planning and analysis manager.

Mr Dawson, who joined Driver Hire straight from school as a trainee in 1996, is responsible for the day-to-day running of Driver Hire’s finance function, supporting Driver Hire UK, Driver Hire Australia and the Driver Risk Management businesses.