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June. What does that mean to you?

It is the astronomical first day of summer, although you wouldn’t think it looking at the weather. June contains the summer solstice, the longest day, it runs to 30 days, starting in the constellation of Taurus and ending in Gemini.

So what do we expect from June?

The word June comes from the Roman goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter. It has several really important notable dates such as World Bicycle Day (3rd) and International Picnic Day (18th) and very importantly Father’s Day (also 18th).

June is a month without Bank Holidays, a month of expectation. The sun does shine, the natural world has fully woken and blossomed into activity. We are all looking forward to holidays on the beach or by the pool. Opening the summer wardrobe, hoping the clothes still fit!

Anxious parents are encouraging their teenaged offspring ‘not to worry’ about their exams, while they themselves are fretting, hoping and supporting. Every food store has banks of marinated spare ribs and chicken thighs, Pimms and strawberries, call up the neighbours and watch the men have discussions around the smoking BBQ (hopefully not overcooking the ribs and undercooking the chicken).

While the business community (and many home owners) watch the Bank of England raising interest rates with fear, we can rest assured that our drivers and their vehicles are in good health. Many fleet owners are getting replacement parts, or replacement lorries as the stocks of spares return to a more reasonable level of availability.

Our loyal drivers are now getting more consistent work. Transport teams are giving us more long term bookings and are planning with much more certainty. The holiday season has started, as many companies look to spread their holiday plans over a greater period, which suits our business.

We can now move from promising to delivering on the work available.

Are you able to help out your local community? BBC News recently reported that food banks are having to buy groceries at high prices because donations fail to meet demand from families in need. The Trussell Trust said 13% of food in emergency parcels was bought, whereas before the pandemic it was all donated.

Paul McMurray, from North Shields, has created Donation Genie - a website that displays the items that are most needed at each specific food bank across the UK. Visitors to the site can enter a postcode or area and it will show the four nearest food banks and which items they are in most need of.

It's a hard time for many with the ever increasing prices, but if you're able to help a family in need, please refer to the Donation Genie website above.

How long have you been with Driver Require? Somewhere between 16 and 17 years...

Have you always been in recruitment? If not, what did you do before? No, this was my first job in recruitment. Previously I was in sales, Account Management, Marketing and Events Management. My first job out of University was a buyer for Tesco PLC.

Now for some of your favourites…

Favourite band/singer? Tricky one - I swing from Metallica through White Strips, Red Hot Chili Peppers & on through hardcore dance regularly. Not a fan of POP music!

Favourite ‘binge watch’ series on TV/Netflix/Amazon etc? The Boys, but anything else suitably warped works for me!

Favourite quote from a film? "I am Groot"

And last but not least…

What three words best describe you? Positive, Pragmatic, Open

Proudest moment of your life to date? Having a daughter with a positive can do attitude to life.

For a while we've been offering the chance to win a £5 costa voucher by sending us the correct answer to our Riddle of the Month in the quickest time. We've had some great feedback and our winners have very kindly sent us some amazing photos with their winnings.

We thought it was time for a switch up, so this month we are introducing our new monthly competition.... Name that Spot.

Our Lead Driver, Ian, pictured above, will be taking photos on his journeys and if you recognise the spot, reply to this email with your answer. If you're the first correct answer, you'll receive a £5 costa voucher, it's as simple as that!

Our Driver of the Month for June is George Vlaciu from our Tamworth branch. The team felt collectively that George was long overdue this accolade!

Despite working for 1 client George has been extremely flexible not just in terms of shift times but the actual nature of the shifts he has undertaken. As our client subcontracts for a number of clients themselves, the nature of their work is quite varied and out of a dozen or so regular drivers there are only perhaps one or two that are prepared to carry out the whole spectrum of work provided to us.

Recently with the changes in economic environment and increased competition most shifts are being added on a daily basis and in some cases very short notice. If we didn’t have drivers like George the successful completion of these shifts would be extremely difficult. George is polite, and has accepted even the most challenging of shifts/shift combinations without issue.

As a perfect example our client has a regular contract which involves Tramping, for which we have a specific driver reserved. This driver had to go home to Romania at short notice due to a family issue – George immediately stepped to assist. This was 4 weeks ago and our tramping driver has unfortunately had to extend his stay. Following a brief conversation George has once again gone out of his way, allowing us to fulfil our commitments to the client.

As a big “THANK YOU” for being a Driver Require Superhero we will be sending George a £25 Amazon gift card. Thank you for all your hard work George and for Going the Extra Mile, we are delighted to have you part of the Driver Require Team.