SPECIALIST medical supplier Peacocks is hailing its new training programme a huge success after five members of its customer services staff passed their NVQ certificates with flying colours.

Following a restructuring of the customer services department, Peacocks devised a programme to ensure staff continued to offer high levels of service to clients.

Alan Gribbin, customer services manager said: "After consulting staff and training providers we decided that NVQs offered the flexible approach to training we required."

All training and assessment was delivered in-house by Access Training and was designed to fit in with the team's working day.

Peacocks Medical Group designs and manufactures specialist medical equipment, such as orthotics.

The company's manufacturing base is in Newcastle, with outlets in Middlesbrough and Southampton.

The first members of Peacock's customer service staff to achieve NVQs are: Paul Middlemast, Dave Binns, Cath Hoggett and Sandra Storey, who all gained an NVQ Level 3 in Customer Services, and Emma Forster who passed NVQ Level 2 in Administration.