Basildon-based Abby Couriers has driven its way in to the finals of the Essex County Business Awards 2010 thanks to the quality of its staff training and development.
Managing Director of Abby Couriers, Mark Giles, said: "Every company succeeds or fails due to the quality of staff within the company which is why Abby Couriers invests considerable time and resources to making sure we have the right staff in place and the provide them with the right training.
"At Head Office in Basildon we have four apprenticeship positions - one in our Finance Department and three in the Logistics Department - as we believe in giving young people a chance and supporting them in gaining new skills to enhance their careers.
"But the training doesn't stop there as all of our staff are encouraged and supported through time off for study to develop additional expertise to help them deliver a even better service to our customers.
"That philosophy led us to develop a new NVQ course specifically for courier drivers which covers safe and courteous driving, manual handling, customer service, health and safety and also vehicle and parcel security.
"The whole NVQ programme was developed thanks to contacts made via Essex FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) and is being delivered in partnership with Business Link and funded via Ixion Holdings Limited of Chelmsford.
"It is that commitment to staff training and our drive to develop new courses suitable for our staff that has won us this place in the final and we hope will lead to us winning the award when it is announced at the Gala Awards ceremony on Friday 23 April 2010."
Founded in 1994 Abby Couriers is a family run firm with a Head Office in Luckyn Lane, Basildon - more details at www.abbycouriers.com
With almost 200 staff the firm has more than 175 drivers on the road providing Same Day Delivery Services across the United Kingdom and Europe for key clients who include DHL, FEDEX and TNT.
Abby Couriers is a member of the National Courier Association, the Federation of Small Businesses and Essex Chambers of Commerce.
During 2009 Abby Couriers won the Business to Business category in the Essex County Business Awards; the Staff Training and Development and the Business to Business Awards in the Basildon District Business Awards and the Green Business Award in the North and West London Business Awards.