As part of a staff development programme, ABE Ledbury, a nationwide distributor of palletised freight, is now celebrating a number of promotions and qualifications that are all due to the success of the scheme. Created to attract and retain staff, the programme has trained staff members to the highest of standards, helping them get promoted.

Amongst those staff members are Kelly Wright, national planner, who has attained her Transport Manager CPC, and Craig Jenkins, who has also gained an accreditation, achieving his HGV Category C licence after completing ABE’s Warehouse to Wheels programme. That same qualification was also completed by apprentices Ashley Norton and Jack Clifton.

To continue with the company’s reasons for celebration, Victoria Evans has been promoted from team leader to supervisor in the customer services department, whilst George Harrison has made the same move in the warehouse division. In addition, Joe Feakins has just begun a new chapter in his career with ABE Ledbury as a fully-fledged HGV fitter after successfully completing his HGV mechanic apprenticeship.

“There are no contracts between ourselves and our customers so there is no requirement for anyone to offer us repeat business. This is a great motivation for our team. They know we always have to give our very best from the first phone call with the customer through to the final delivery,” commented Clive Brooks, MD of ABE Ledbury.

“With this in mind, the development of our staff is a key priority and we pride ourselves on our ability to keep them engaged and motivated through a mix of regular cross training, internal training and external training. The aim is for our teams to have the know-how on as many roles as possible within the business.”

Getting to the promotions stage was not easy though and the team spent 12 months in intensive training, which included the successful completion of a mentoring programme, team leader course, Institution of Occupational Safety and Health safety course and first aid training. Moreover, ABE Ledbury recently invested in a training package that offers access to almost 30 online courses, to be completed by all employees, teaching them a variety of skills including customer services, time management and diversity and inclusion.

“Our aim is to help our staff build their skills and develop their careers not just for the benefit of ABE Ledbury but also for the wider industry,” concluded Clive.