A FAMILY-RUN transport firm is taking on ex-servicemen to combat a driver shortage.

Stiller Warehousing and Distribution, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has worked with the Resettlement Centre, at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, to help ex-forces members into work.

The company previously admitted it had been forced to recruit drivers from Romania to fill a void, but now says 30 per cent of its 80-man driving team are ex-servicemen, with five drivers joining since the end of last year.

Chris Bain, Stiller's head of pallet distribution, said its Catterick partnership was paying dividends.

He said: “We’re still looking for drivers, but that’s because we're expanding, not because of shortages.

"We've run three initiatives; promoting young staff, getting people in from overseas, and now this, which has been the most successful so far.

"Most men leave the forces with their heavy goods licence, so it’s a case of fine-tuning the skills they already have.

“You know they’re going to be punctual, smart and hardworking.”

Mr Bain added drivers Graham Bedford, John Parker and Michael McFarland, who are all ex-servicemen, were awarded gold certificates after taking part in assessor courses run by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

Earlier this year, Stiller, founded 60 years ago when a former German prisoner of war sold a herd of pigs and bought a truck, revealed it was spending more than £1m to increase warehouse space.

The company is building a 40,000sq ft base to increase its storage by nearly half.

It has also secured a £15m three-year deal with food packaging firm Coveris Rigid, which it expects will lift annual turnover to £13m.