A recruitment platform for HGV drivers which has seen a huge jump in registered users has secured over £320,000 to expand its business.
Stock based Avail Technologies has developed a platform and driver app which brings hauliers together with drivers looking for short-term contracts, taking away the need for traditional recruitment agencies.
The system allows hauliers to reduce costs, and drivers to earn more, while complying with IR35 legislation.
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The company was founded in 2018 by former British Army logistics specialist Erin Short, and currently employs five people at its headquarters.
Earlier this year it received £300,000 from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, managed by Mercia, to support its expansion plans and develop its app and driver platform.
Now it has secured a further £320,000 from the NPIF, alongside private investors.
Avail’s platform and driver app bring hauliers together with drivers looking for short-term contracts, removing the need for traditional recruitment agencies, saving costs and allowing drivers to earn more.
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The number of registered users on the platform has leapt by 70% to around 17,000 since October, when the Department of Transport urged inactive HGV drivers to return to the industry to ease driver shortages. It has also seen a boost because it is one of only five official recruitment providers to the industry body Logistics 海角视频.
The latest funding follows the recent appointment of Matt Eeles as general manager.
He said: “The recent driver shortage has highlighted the critical role that HGV drivers play in keeping supermarket shelves stocked and the wheels of the industry turning. While conditions are improving and wages have risen, this makes it all the more important that operators cut out unnecessary expenses. Avail enables them to hire drivers at lower cost so more money can into drivers’ pockets.
“The latest funding will enable us to introduce a range of new features to the platform and help us to achieve our goal to become the leading platform of its type in the industry.”
Connie Smith of Mercia added: “Avail is addressing some of the key challenges facing the logistics industry – tackling driver shortages by enabling hauliers to recruit staff remotely, stripping out costs to improve wages and helping drivers deal with the new IR35 regulations.
“This latest investment will make it even easier for employers and drivers to engage with each other on the platform, and will enable the company to go from strength to strength.”
Sean Hutchinson at British Business Bank, said: “First backed by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund in 2018, Avail is an excellent example of how access to finance can help a business grow at pace in a key moment of opportunity.
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“When shortages of HGV drivers came to a head, Avail was there to provide a solution that saved haulage firms time and money, which in turn created jobs and supported the wider 海角视频 economy.”
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.
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