Enthusiastic reception for lorry driver bootcamps to solve shortage in Spalding-area and further afield

Industry leaders have welcomed new bootcamps set up to get more lorry drivers on the road.

The Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership was pleased with an extra £34 million in funding for the training programmes, which was announced by the Department for Education on December 10.
Earlier this year, a call for action was made as many haulage companies struggled to recruit drivers, a fact that was having an impact on the local and national supply chain.

South Holland was short of about 100 drivers due to a range of factors including Brexit and changes to tax rules.

HGV driver bootcamps are free, flexible, intensive courses of up to 16 weeks designed to train drivers to be road-ready and gain their licence.

Those who successfully complete the HGV courses are guaranteed a job interview with an employer - and the first drivers are expected to be on the road from March 2022.

The Greater Lincolnshire LEP’s Skills Manager Clare Hughes has welcomed the news of the funding.

She said: “I’m pleased to see national funding rules for training relaxed in response to concerns and needs of employers.
“Many driver training centres around the country are now able to offer support, including the Modal Training Centre in Grimsby.”

HGV drivers in the logistics and haulage sectors are seen as vital to Greater Lincolnshire’s national and international connectivity.

A full list of the bootcamps and their locations can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-a-skills-bootcamp