Hello all and welcome back! After over a year, our newsletters are back up and running and we have got lots of exciting new things to share with you. From the opening of our new Bristol site, to introducing some of our new team to you. So have a read and keep up to date with our latest.
To start things off I will quickly introduce myself. My name is Mia, I am 21 years old and I have been working for WTTL for four weeks now as an Operations Team Administrator. Having worked in the transport sector for 3 years now, I’ve gained a vast knowledge of Transport Compliance, O Licensing, fleet maintenance. The team at WTTL have welcomed me with open arms and I am excited to progress in my role and further my knowledge. One of my roles will be managing the social media and keeping you all up to date with these monthly newsletters.
In September 2021, due to the growth in the business, the lack of driving tests available in Swindon, and the high demand for training, we decided to expand the company by signing a 5 year contract with M J Church to secure our new operating site at Wick in Bristol. Having the test centre situated only 10 minutes away from our Wick site in Bristol means it’s ideally located to run the lorries from and avoids any wasted time traveling to and from training, The Bristol team have quickly adapted to the new test centre and routes, achieving an excellent pass rate of 81% when tests are taken at Kingswood test centre. Managed by one of our Instructors, John Vaughan, who was employed due to his outstanding experience and knowledge of the Bristol test routes and instructing methods, we have 3 Artic’s and 3 Rigid’s operating out of Wick. This is good news for our existing customer base who are located in the Bristol and surrounding areas as they no longer have to commute to Devizes, as well as opening our services up to new customers in the area.
With the growth we have seen within the last few years, we have had lots of new additions to the team. We thought for the first newsletter back, we would do a bit of an update and a ‘Meet The Team’
Tom Williams - Tom is our Senior Instructor based in Devizes and has worked for us for 15+ years. With the qualifications he holds, he is able to deliver and teach almost every course we have to offer so I am sure most of you will already know him or have been taught by him at some point.
Randall Hughes - Randall joined the team in January 2019 and quickly became a integral part of the team. With a vast experience in Dangerous Goods and ADR as well as the ability to teach Drivers CPC and licence acquisition. His skill sets make him a very valuable member of the team and he is often seen up and down the country teaching our more specialist courses.
Darryl Broadley - Darryl joined us with no teaching experience at all but took to it really quickly and is now able to teach the majority of courses that we deliver including ADR, ALLMI crane courses, Forklifts, Drivers CPC and licence acquisition.
Pete Vowles - Pete joined us in 2014 and is an important part of the rigid driver training team for many years and has helped hundreds of people to gain their Category C licences, and has also mentored many of our new Instructors.
Garry Mathis - Garry joined us as in 2017 predominantly teaching on the rigid and car and trailer vehicles in Swindon. He has since developed his skill set adding Forklift Instructor and C+E training to his repertoire, as well as being one of the few Instructors to be able to teach at all 3 test centres (Swindon, Greenham and Kingswood).
Julian Yeates - Julian has been with us just under a year and came with a background of car driving instruction. His knowledge gained as an ADI has been really useful bringing us new teaching techniques and ideas. He is also the trusted driver of ‘Game Of Thrones’, although rumour has it he has a new truck on the way…watch this space!
Rik Noakes - Rik has been with us for just over 2 years now and although his main role is a C+E Driving Instructor, he also has a keen interest in first aid which is his favourite Drivers CPC module to teach. Last month he successfully passed his NRI qualification as well as becoming a Module 4 Assessor this week.
John Vaughan - John was taken on in January this year to run our Bristol depot. With years of experience both driving and instructing, he is a real asset to the team in Bristol, helping the guys to learn routes and give the best possible training to our Bristol customers. He is also a Module 3a Examiner and soon to be Module 4 Assessor.
Lance Greenhalgh - After being a customer of ours for many years as a Transport Manager at Swindon Borough Council, Lance joined the team in June 2021. Coming to us without an LGV licence, he had a very intense training programme, becoming a Driver CPC Instructor, Forklift Instructor, Transport Manager Instructor and also passing his C+E licence himself within the space of 6 months. Lance is now our lead Transport Manager CPC Instructor and has made lots of positive changes to the course, bringing our average pass rate to over 85%.
Jeff May - Jeff joined the team in August 2021 and quickly became an established member of the rigid driving instructional team. Initially based in Devizes, he has now moved over to the Bristol site and has a very well respected pass rate of over 75% between both test centres. He is also booked in to become a Module 4 Assessor in the coming weeks as well as training to get his D1 minibus licence.
Stuart Andrews - Stuart is a really important part of the Classroom Instructor team mainly teaching Driver CPC as well as being able to teach Transport Manager CPC, Transport Manager Refreshers and ADR Awareness, He brings an enthusiastic and refreshing approach to teaching and constantly receives brilliant feedback especially on Driver CPC where candidates constantly comment on how much they have enjoyed his sessions.
Rob Warwick - Rob has been with us just under a year. Having already had instructional experience with the Fire Brigade, he quickly took on more roles as a Module 4 Examiner, 3A Assessor and C+E Instructor. He is currently working towards his NRI qualification and alongside Garry is also one of the few members of the team to be able to teach at all 3 test centres.
Russell Williams - Russell has been with us for about 8 months now and he has taken to instructing really well. Working out of our Bristol depot and having a forces background, he was the ideal choice to be allocated the Royal British Legion themed rigid that joined our fleet a couple of months ago. His passion and enthusiasm have meant that after 8 months he has an incredible 89% pass rate which is unheard of for a newly qualified Instructor with no prior instructional experience.
Darren Hyde - Darren joined us in the early part of 2022 and quickly became a really important part of the Bristol team, helping John to manage the day to day running of the depot. His enthusiasm for wanting his learners to succeed really shows and as well as a fantastic pass rate, he constantly receives brilliant feedback from learners. Darren keeps his truck absolutely spotless and has already won multiple awards at Truck Shows this year with his truck ROX.
Bill Billington - Bill is one of the newest members of the team, teaching in, predominantly, a rigid at the Swindon test centre. He is now signed off and instructing independently. If his first couple of courses are anything to go by, we have found another great addition to the team.
Dan Hobbs - Dan worked for us a few years ago and after leaving to move to Scotland, he returned home to rejoin our instructor team. He now teaches predominantly in Bristol, instructing in an Artic. Dan is working towards his NRI qualification and his minibus licence as well as being a 3A Assessor.
Wendy and Nick Rees - Wendy and Nick bought WTTL in 2003 with the intention of using the business to train drivers for their driver recruitment agency Transtaff Limited. As the business grew, it was clear to them that this is what they enjoyed doing so they decided to focus completely on WTTL. In the 19 years the business has grown from 3 members of staff and 2 lorries, to what it is today with 26 members of staff and 15 lorries. Both still have active day to day roles with Wendy focusing on the HR and compliance for the business, while Nick focuses on the day to day running and operational management.
Jordan Rees - Jordan has been working for the business for over 10 years now. Starting as a temporary job for him doing filing and basic admin, he has now worked his way up and is now the company’s Operations Manager running the office and our training delivery.
Simon Emmott - Simon is the longest serving member of our Administration Team, joining us in December 2003. Starting initially to help process our invoices and payments he is now our Finance Manager and IT guru.
Jake Kovacs - Jake has been working for the company for over 4 years now. He joined as our Apprentice Mentor and is now our LGV Training Manager. He is the first point of contact for our customers when it comes to booking/enquiring about courses. His attention to detail and customer service makes the process for all of our candidates a smooth and pleasant one throughout their course.
Luke Dean - Luke has been a crucial member of the admin team for 3 and a half years now. No task is ever too much for him to take on and he always strives for the best outcome possible to make the lives easier for both our candidates and our Instructors. He is responsible for administering all of our Driver CPC courses, Module 4 and Module 3A tests and he works with Wendy to ensure all of our courses are compliant and legal.
Robyn Tilley - Robyn is the youngest member of our team and has been working with us for 3 months now. With no prior experience in the Logistics Industry, Robyn joined as our Admin Apprentice and is currently completing her Business Administration Level 3 apprenticeship. Her knowledge in LGV’s and our training courses has grown profoundly since starting and, as she sits on the reception desk, she takes great pleasure in greeting our candidates on a daily basis with a smiley face and excellent customer service.
