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LIFTING THE BAR

22nd February 2007
Page 62
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Page 62, 22nd February 2007 — LIFTING THE BAR
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Associated Trainers is based in rural Suffolk, but this forklift and crane trainer casts its net beyond British

shores. Tim Maughan reports.

We are talking to Associated Trainer (AT) owner Chris Boaler-Hysett at the company's Sudbury, Suffolk base when the phone rings. It is a Middle Eastern firm requiring a pair of instructors. "They want a couple of instructors out there every month; they found us on the internet," he explains.

Ars international presence is perhaps not surprising, considering ills one of the UK's largest forklift training enterprises, training 15,000 forklift drivers a year.

We have 25 trainers; during busy periods we can take on up to 15 extra instructors," says Boaler-Hysett.

Despite its size,AT is still a specialist organisation:"We don't do any LGV training," Boaler-Hysett adds. "AT sticks to what it's good at — forklift and truck-mounted and cab-operated crane training.

Remote control training

"There are certain cranes where you stand in a warehouse with a remote control,and you bring the jib across the factory floor, and the hook comes down to lift the item up," he says."We train for these as well."

Evidently the firm has 'associated' in its title because its small army of instructors work on a self-employed basis. "We are associated with them, and they are associated with us It's like a marriage," says BoaterHysett.Training is handled at Ars Sudbury base, but instructors also travel far and wide to customers' sites.

A certified trainer himself, Boaler-Hysett collates the work and distributes it across the team; sales manager Steve Morgan brings in extra business; secretary Joyce Blyth takes care of the paperwork.

During our visit Blyth shows us the company's impressive archive. In the time it takes to say Jack Robinson, she can source ex-students' details and dig out the accompanying documentation.

AT's customer base is large. As well as teaching Royal Mail staff to operate forklifts, the firm instructs nuclear power station personnel, members of the armed forces and "a variety of blue-chip companies".

Winter can be a notoriously slack time for many businesses involved with road transport, but the seasonal lull does not affect AT.This is because any customers experiencing their own quiet spells take the opportunity to have their people taught about lifting gear.

"The busiest time for us is January, February and March," Boaler-Hysett reports. "That's when other companies tend to concentrate on training."

A tour of the sheds

Boaler-Hysett takes us on a tour of the premises. In one shed we find instructor Terry Heathfield teaching a student to use a four-tonne forklift. A stroll to another shed, and we feel that we have passed into a parallel universe.There's another forklift in exactly the same position, with the corresponding rack ing.Again, student is being put through his paces.On closer inspection, though, this forklift is a twotonner and the instructor is Andy Butters.

The view in the third shed is decidedly different. We're surprised to find ourselves in the presence of a 1934 Rolls Royce 20-25,parked next to a Daimler DS420 that used to belong to Queen Elizabeth. Behind that stands a pre-war Cadillac,currently undergoing a engine rebuild. It turns out that in addition to AT Boaler-Hysett runs Chocolate BoxWeddings, a chauffeur-driven-car operation.

As impressive as the limousines are, AT remains Boaler-Hysett's core business; success in crane and forklift training funded the launch of Chocolate Box Weddings and still subsidises the luxury fleet.

We wonder what makes a good trainer. "The best ones have a pleasant attitude," he tells us. "They are dealing with different people -nye. WA Our pale enable 24.7 r=tao'rreer="ar"..74:,•,.. a Naar. ...weal evagesloe nee a.m. a meal.. • oe, .1■17•0111.1.411111.0 0.0110,1 anisf

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Palua and Sala t■anetts.../..•••e• heal F. reere. ea,e. Pa awl...a a.. and different cultures, so they must he able to get on with people."

Boaler-Hysett is not only confident that there will always be a market for crane training, he expects it to grow: "There will be more demand for it, because everything that comes into the country has to go by road and, eventually, by forklift truck."

Company directors are legally required to maintain records proving that their personnel are fully trained in forklifts and other lifting gear where appropriate.This duty of care saves life and limb, and also means that Boaler-Hysett never suffers from late payment.

"We don't release the training certificates until the customers pay," he points out. "So they have to do it, really." •


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