Dixons Carphone launches campaign for 7.5t drivers

Dixons Carphone has announced a nationwide campaign to recruit, retain and retrain 7.5t drivers across the UK.

It comes as a response to the current industry-wide shortage of drivers, and will see the group offer a sign-on bonus of £1,500 to new 7.5t drivers as well as paying a £1,500 retention bonus to existing 7.5t drivers. 

Employees elsewhere in the business who choose to retrain as a driver will be eligible for the sign-on bonus and colleagues who refer a friend for a driver vacancy can also secure a £1,000 reward.

In order to “play its part in resolving the national driver shortage”, the group is also looking to help upskill new drivers. It is now running a scheme whereby anyone over the age of 21 who has held their UK Category B driving licence for more than a year will have the cost of their training and tests paid for by the company, an average investment of £1,500 per colleague. 

The scheme will see candidates complete their theory, Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) and their practical test, all the while gaining valuable on-the-job training. 

In addition, 7.5t drivers will also be trained up in health and safety and product installation at Dixons Carphone’s brand new, state-of-the-art technical training facilities.

Lindsay Haselhurst, chief supply chain officer at Dixons Carphone, said: “Our drivers are a vital part of our operation – our ambassadors on the road who perform the mammoth task of replenishing, delivering and installing hundreds of thousands of products every week, serving our stores as well as our customers in their homes.

“There is no better time to be joining Dixons Carphone, as we continue to invest in colleagues’ skills and reward, and we undergo our rebrand to one business – Currys.” 

She added: “The pandemic has reinforced the important role vital technology plays in everyone’s lives today, so we’re looking for new drivers to join our fantastic team of capable and committed colleagues to help us continue to deliver on our vision of helping everyone enjoy amazing technology.”