Richard Black and Gaynor Corkhill set up PDRS in Basford in October 2006, with just one driver on their books. Now they manage a pool of around 70, matching both temporary and long-term reliable staff to vacancies for their clients in the haulage industry.
Richard, 40, said: Weve built up the company through sheer hard work and reaching the first 1M in sales is an important milestone. Hopefully reaching the 2M or 3M will be great too, but the first feels more magical!
PDRS, which stands for Professional Driving Recruitment Services, has been built on foundations that Nottinghamshire Business Venture (NBV) helped lay down.
The fledgling entrepreneurs were mentored by NBV and made use of their virtual office service, a groundbreaking scheme offered by Mercury House, NBVs Managed Office space allowing tenants to work from wherever they choose, providing a business address and a receptionist, giving the professional image new firms need to impress potential customers. The 2000 square metre space at Mercury House opened in 2003 and offers state-of-the-art ICT facilities.
Richard explains: We stumbled across the NBV website by sheer accident and found the information very useful, so we contacted them and it went from there. We were at the stage of drawing up a business plan, and they tweaked it for us without doing it for us, so we really gained an insight into the process. We took the plan to the bank and they were interested from the start. I think NBV are a fantastic boost to new businesses, wed recommend them to anyone in our situation.
Richard started out as a van driver as a teenager and then worked for an agency in Beeston before deciding to strike out on his own with his business partner Gaynor, 36. Between them they have 35 years experience in the HGV industry.
Richard explains: Weve found a niche where we have real expertise we wouldnt consider doing clerical or commercial recruitment, because this is the industry we know and understand, and it makes a big difference.
We hope our solid reputation and our business continue to grow.
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