A recruitment company in Dorset has helped solve a shortage of forklift truck drivers in the region by training its own drivers.

Smart Recruitment had unsuccessfully advertised for weeks for a driver qualified to drive special Bendi forklift trucks.

So the firm formed a partnership with training company QTC, and its client, paint manufacturer Farrow & Ball, to share the cost of training some drivers.

Smart put 57-year-old Brian Simmons through the course, along with two drivers from Farrow & Ball.

Simmons is now working as a temp driver after being made redundant from a previous post.

“This is much cheaper than an unsuccessful advertising campaign, and gives a candidate an opportunity,” said Smart’s industrial division manager Tina Flooks.