Stationery firm Office Depot is planning to roll out its flexible workforce model across the UK after generating cost savings of £134,000 by switching to agency drivers from Driver Hire.
The decision to expand its partnership with Driver Hire follows a series of redund-ancies at 10 of the firm's 12 depots over the last year.
Speaking at the Business
Link seminar Improving Efficiency; Increasing Profits last week in London, Office Depot's transport operation manager Andy Naylor said: "We found we often had drivers parked up and doing nothing on the back of falling volumes."
He says £134,000 has been saved since January owing to less sick and holiday pay, savings on uniforms and adm-inistration. By using drivers that have undergone Driver Hire's Fuel Efficient Driving scheme, it has also lowered fuel consumption. Further-more, the group is now using 60 hire trucks, and can adjust its fleet according to demand.
But Jo Tanner, FTA director of communications, cautions that agency drivers are not a viable long-term solution. She says: "Investing in the workforce
in tough times as well as good can reap dividends in the medium and long term.
"Regardless of how deep the recession bites, we must ensure that when it ends, we are not left with a skills shortage."
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