In Brief: Driver Hire; Orchard Environmental; APP Construction; White Rose

DRIVER Hire, the Bradford-based specialist transport and logistics recruitment company, has ended 2013 with bumper trading results.

The group’s 100-office nationwide network has achieved the four best weeks’ trading in its 30-year history.

Driver Hire said its record breaking performance was boosted by online shopping and demand from major national businesses.

Chris Chidley, Driver Hire’s chief executive, said: “This is a great way to celebrate our 30th year in business. Trading was already well ahead of 2012/13 before we entered the key Christmas trading period. Our success during December was undoubtedly assisted by online shopping, all of which has to be delivered by parcel delivery companies. They clearly turned to Driver Hire for extra staff. We’re now well placed to achieve all time record trading at the end of our financial year in March.”

Driver Hire is one of the UK’s largest specialist suppliers of staff to the transport and logistics industry.

:::

WASTE management firm Orchard Environmental has revealed plans to expand its premises and boost the size of its team in 2014.
 
The Elland-based firm, part of the Orchard Group, will recruit for two new sales staff in the first quarter of the year with further appointments expected over the next 12 months in both telesales and field sales.
 
Group managing director Gareth Henderson said investment in the firm’s offices and infrastructure to support this growth was already underway.
 
“Building work has begun at Orchard House to create a new business unit for the environmental team with more space, a separate entrance and state-of-the-art IT and telecoms systems,” he said.
 
Mr Henderson said Orchard Environmental had already put in place a number of initiatives to enhance customer service including the installation of a bespoke waste management software system.

He said the objective was to have an environmental team of 22 at the head office by the end of 2014, focusing on waste management and recycling services and covering an area extending from the current core of activity within the M62 corridor, Lancashire and South Yorkshire to make inroads across the whole of the UK.

The Orchard Group employs 90 people and has regional offices across the UK including Glasgow, Bristol and Newcastle.

:::

APP Construction has scooped a number of new contract wins.

The Leeds-based construction group has started work in Nottingham, constructing a flagship £2m Nissan Dealership for Sandicliffe Motor Group. The scheme consists of new multi-storey showroom and workshop facilities with extensive external display car areas.

APP Construction has also secured a second dealership win with Sandicliffe Motor Group, with a fast-track nine-week construction programme to extend an existing Mazda showroom facility in Leicester.

The business has employed Zero Architecture and Harrogate’s Sharpe Topping Consulting Engineers to carry out the design.

APP’s John White said: “We recognise that Sandicliffe’s aim is to become the leading motor group within the region and we want to be part of the journey.”

Other contract wins include work on a £500,000 trade counter unit in Balham near Clapham for private investor, Goodship Investments and APP Construction has also handed over the fast track Co-Op shell construction for private developer Sigma (Midlands).

Mr White said: “The site we inherited had its obstacles to get over but with the help our experienced contacts team and the backing of a good design team we achieved a high quality build for a very important client.”
:::

WHITE Rose Shopping Centre ended 2013 on a high by recording its two busiest weeks of the year for footfall.

Christmas week saw 336,000 visitors – a 3.7% increase on the same week in 2012 – and 356,000 people visited Leeds’ White Rose in the week before Christmas.

Centre director, James Bailey, said: “We were delighted to record a five-year footfall high of 72,000 on 23rd December and the 66,500 who came through our doors on Boxing Day gave us our second busiest day of 2013.

“Retailers are reporting positive sales over the Christmas period, with better than expected growth versus last year. The best performing retailers have been jewellers, health, beauty and fragrance retailers and gift and toy retailers.”