National consultancy Berry Recruitment has opened a specialist driving office in Romford, Essex.
The firm has opened the new stand-alone operation due to the level of demand experienced by the driving division of its Ilford branch.
The new Romford base currently supplies in excess of 100 companies a day with drivers and has more than 250 drivers on its books. It has five staff at present and that number is likely to increase, Berry says.
Lee Gamble, Berry Recruitment’s operations director, said a dearth of qualified drivers in the UK means the service is in more demand than ever.
“Our new Romford branch allows us to concentrate resources in order to meet the increasing demand,” he said.
“The new CPC qualification needed by drivers combined with the lure of other well-paid work as well as Christmas looming has resulted in the shortage. It affects the driving of all vehicles of 7.5 tonnes or more.
“As demand for drivers increases it follows that their wages will rise – we’ve seen a £2 average increase per hour this year, and that figure will grow.”