York conference celebrates success

Driver Hire’s 2019 annual conference was a perfect opportunity to mark the achievements of its top performing and long-standing franchisees. Leading the way was Diane Maxwell who, along with her brother Danny, is joint-owner of Driver Hire’s Belfast office, crowned ‘Franchisee of the Year’. Other top award winners included: Andy Daniels (Bolton & Wigan), Grant Wilson (Aberdeen), Richard Bradshaw (Guildford) and Ed Pockney (Uxbridge). In addition, eighteen franchisees collected awards for reaching annual turnover milestones – eight of which were in excess of £1.5m. And finally, three franchisees celebrated long-term partnerships with Driver Hire, ranging from ten to 20 years. Each year the conference also provides an opportunity for Driver Hire’s 100-plus franchisee network to hear first-hand from industry experts that they might not meet in any other forum. That’s why the Road Haulage Association’s (RHA) Policy Director, Duncan Buchanan was one of the guest speakers in 2019 to provide industry insight on the issues that will be affecting Driver Hire customers in the coming year. Amazingly he managed to do most of this without mentioning the ‘B’ word! The Conference’s keynote speaker was business writer and sports psychology consultant, Damian Hughes. Damian’s presentation unlocked the DNA of a winning culture within a business. Driver Hire Chief Executive Chris Chidley was also on hand to take part in a question and answer session that included a review of another successful and potentially record-breaking year for the business. Driver Hire has been a leading franchise business for over 30 years. The UK’s largest specialist supplier of staff to the transport and logistics industry, it provides temporary and permanent drivers and other logistics staff to local and national organisations in both the public and private sector. If they’re short of staff – perhaps because of illness, holidays or seasonal demand – Driver Hire will supply them with a suitable replacement.