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Pallet Trucks UK has applauded 2 Sisters Food Group for its latest enhancement to its Flixton site, which will create 100 more jobs on top of its current workforce which processes around 1 million birds per week.

Roles in engineering, finance, training and health and safety have been created as part of the expansion, which has been done to keep up with orders during the busy Christmas period and beyond.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “It’s great to see so many new jobs being created in the area. We’re always happy to see new manufacturing positions on the market, but it’s interesting to see that there’s a diverse array of roles in areas that you might not usually expect in a factory environment.”

2 Sisters was blighted earlier in the year after a food hygiene scandal engulfed its West Bromwich plant. An undercover investigation by ITV and The Guardian showed 2 Sisters workers displaying a blatant disregard for food hygiene practice by labeling food incorrectly, picking food up after it had been on the floor and mixing batches of meat.

A huge media frenzy ensued after the footage was made public, causing 2 Sisters to close the plant whilst an investigation took place. 2 Sisters officials were also called into a parliamentary inquiry as a result of the expose.

Phil added: “After the scandal that happened earlier in the year it’s fantastic to hear some good news from 2 Sisters. The company employs a lot of people and hopefully this expansion can go towards rebuilding their reputation.”

Pallet Trucks UK supplies a multitude of manual handling equipment to food factories across the country, with its vast product catalogue including pallet trucks, moving skates, aerial work platforms, forklift fork extensions and more.

Pallet Trucks UK has urged businesses to prioritise worker safety after a dreadful accident caused a pallet to fall on a freight worker, leaving him with devastating spinal injuries and robbing him of his ability to walk.

Andrew Potts, 53, was working as a freight checker for United Pallet Network in Lichfield when the pallet holding glass fell off a curtain-sided lorry and crushed him. This came after Andrew had previously attempted to stabilize the pallets using a forklift truck a few moments earlier.

Previously a fully able man, Mr Potts has now been reduced to having to use a mobility scooter to travel more than a few feet and is completely reliant on his wife for household activities such as cooking and cleaning.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “This is a really catastrophic injury which has robbed an unfortunate worker of his freedom. Going from being a fully able-bodied person to having to use a mobility scooter is devastating for both the victim and his family.

“The worst part about this injury is that it could’ve been avoided; it sounds like the pallet was in a precarious position to start with which is unacceptable in any case, but made even worse by the fact that a lack of attention to safety has cost a man his independence.”

As well as causing excruciating spinal fractures, Mr Potts suffered multiple broken bones and damaged teeth from the accident. He is now suing the owners of the lorry, Lescost Transport Ltd, for damages in excess of £200,000.

Mr Pott’s lawyers state that’s he’s been badly psychologically affected by the accident, and suffers from depression and anxiety as a result of being unable to look after himself and perform simple actions such as climbing stairs.

Phil added: “Some pallets are extremely heavy and it isn’t surprising how severe Mr Pott’s injuries are if the pallet fell on him from height, especially if it was holding a product on top of it as well.”

Pallet Trucks UK stocks a huge array of manual handling equipment used by freight workers and other materials handling professionals, including pallet trucks, moving skates, lift tables, forklift fork extensions, drum loaders and more.

In light of horrifying weather forecasts showing that the UK is set to be engulfed by multiple blizzards, freezing fogs and lethal ice sheets, Pallet Trucks UK has urged businesses to ensure the safety of their workers by using galvanized steel pallet trucks.

Galvanised and stainless-steel pallet trucks are much safer for outdoor workers due to their advanced atomic formation, making them resistant to the severe snow, frost, rain and wind that is set to batter Britain in the coming weeks.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “These weather forecasts make for some truly worrying reading; blizzards, ice and snow of these levels will make outdoor work extremely hazardous during the upcoming winter period.

“Workers using regular pallet trucks to move heavy loads outside will be at increased risk of their truck snapping due to rust, which of course can create potentially life-threating accidents considering pallet trucks are used to carry loads weighing thousands of kilograms.”

Galvanized steel pallet trucks have a different atomic make-up to regular trucks that makes them invincible to rust. A special zinc coating is applied to the exterior of the truck, creating a resistant barrier that prevents the steel being eaten away by extreme weather.

Pallet trucks made of stainless steel are also resistant to the elements due to them containing chromium, an element which reacts with air and water to form an outer shield which protects the metal from being corroded.

Phil added: “It’s imperative that when these brutal weather conditions hit the UK managers equip their workers with galvanized and stainless-steel pallet trucks to keep them safe over the Christmas period.”

Many workers in Britain use pallet trucks outdoors as part of their job roles, with dock workers, food manufacturing professionals and construction workers often having to move heavy loads outside on a daily basis.

As well as being ideal for outdoor use, galvanised and stainless-steel pallet trucks are also useful for pharmaceutical environments, fisheries and food factories due to their heightened resistance to acidic and corrosive materials.

Pallet Trucks UK stocks a wide range of galvanized and stainless steel products ideal for use in extreme weather, including hand pallet trucks with a huge weight capacity of 2000kg and wide galvanised trucks capable of moving larger-than-average pallets.

Pallet Trucks UK has urged materials handling professionals not to be alarmed by a futuristic new project that could see them sharing their workplaces with autonomous robotic workers in the future.

The new ILIAD (Intra-Logistics with Integrated Automatic Deployment) project has been devised by scientists to create entire new fleets of robots called AGVs (automatic guidance vehicles) which will perform tasks such as transporting goods on forklift trucks and pallet jacks as well palletising duties.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “News such as this naturally causes alarm amongst people who may work with forklifts or pallet jacks on a daily basis; who wants their job to be taken by a robot?

“It’s for this reason we’d like to remind workers in our field the focus of the ILIAD project is to create fleets of robots to work alongside humans, not replace them. Secondly, the project is still very much in its research phase at the moment, so don’t expect to be turning up to work and meeting a new robotic colleague anytime soon.”

A key requirement of the ILIAD project is that the robots will be ‘self-aware’ and able to detect, track and predict the behaviour of their human counterparts, and work with them to speed up processes and increase efficiency. Each AGV will also be self-optimizing and able to learn from its own collected data, making fleets of the new AI workers fully scaleable with the option of adding new ones to the fleet at any time.

ILIAD has been developed by robotics specialists from the UK, Sweden, Italy and Germany as part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 fund, and includes the collaboration of experts from universities across the continent.

Phil added: “The emergence of a new robotic workforce could actually be beneficial to us as it may create less strenuous work for humans and mean fewer injuries for forklift drivers and materials handling professionals.

“The rise of AI will also create new jobs in itself as there will need to be a whole new wave of repair specialists to fix the robots when faults and malfunctions occur, so it’s certainly nothing to be worried about in the foreseeable future.”

Although the aim of ILIAD is to create robots able to work in a multitude of industries, the AGVs are to be initially trialled in the food sector due to its challenging requirements including short shelf-life products, high wastage costs and traceability needs.

Pallet Trucks UK currently supplies a vast variety of manual handling equipment to the food sector such as forklift fork extensions and hand pallet trucks, as well as a wide range of other materials handling goods such as moving skates, sack trucks and lift tables.

Pallet Trucks UK has urged those organising Bonfire Night attractions for the upcoming weekend to consider the environment when enjoying the festivities.

Wooden pallets have become a favoured fuel of choice for bonfires over recent years, with the load-bearing platforms being stacked in huge numbers to create massive fires. Whilst they might create a dazzling spectacle, this is detrimental to the environment and only results in further deforestation across the globe.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “Bonfire Night is amazing, especially for young children seeing the fireworks and sparklers for the first time. It’s worth remembering however that burning wooden pallets on Bonfire Night is a somewhat wasteful choice that fuels deforestation in many countries.

“Wooden pallets are 100% recyclable, and even if they’re damaged or broken the wood can be remade into everything from fences and sheds to tables and chairs. Why not burn waste materials for bonfire night, or replace the fire altogether with even more fireworks?”

Hundreds of millions of pallets are in circulation around the world and although the wood for much of these is sustainably sourced, logging companies continue to destroy forests and jungles across the globe in order to create wood for pallets.

The current rate of deforestation means that, shockingly, an area equal to 20 football fields is lost every minute, and the loss of forests contributes to between 12% and 17% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.

Phil added: “Our planet’s resources are the most precious commodity we have, and taking steps to protect our environment now means our grandchildren can enjoy many more Bonfire Nights for years to come.”

Pallet Trucks UK stocks a vast range of pallet trucks used to move wooden, plastic and low-profile pallets across the UK. The Midlands-based company stocks hundreds of models including heavy duty trucks that can move loads of over 5000kg and galvanized and stainless-steel trucks suitable for use in harsh environments.

Also included in Pallet Truck UK’s massive product catalogue are a plethora of others manual handling equipment goods, including moving skates, stackers, lift tables, drum loaders, platform lifts and more.

Pallet Trucks UK has made the lives of materials handling professionals across Britain easier by bolstering its already enormous range of manual handling equipment with a collection of brand new low-profile pallet trucks.

Workers have traditionally only been able to move low-profile pallets with counterbalanced forklifts, a problem which Pallet Trucks UK is seeking to eradicate with its latest product offerings.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “Our latest additions provide an easy fix to professionals who work with low pallets. These are very low to the floor, and often the only thing low enough to get under the slats in order to move them are forklift forks.

“We knew that this was a problem which affects hundreds of people in warehouses, factories and building sites across the country. We’ve brought a much quicker, simpler solution into the fray which can save businesses valuable time and effort when moving loads.”

Pallet Trucks UK has brought a variety of low-profile products to the table, including pallet trucks specifically designed to carry wide loads, heavy-duty trucks which can carry weights of up to 2000kg and a super-low profile pallet truck able to lift loads that are a mere 36mm off the ground.

In addition to being able to get under low pallets, Pallet Truck UK’s low-profile pallet trucks are also ideal for moving stillages and disposable pallets, which are being used more and more in the UK.

Phil added: “You’ll often see people in warehouses and distribution centres trying to force regular pallet trucks under low-bearing pallets, which can risk breaking both the pallet and the product on it, as well as the pallet truck itself. This can cost businesses time and money, and our low-profile pallet trucks are the perfect solution to that.”

As well as stocking a vast range of pallet trucks at its Midlands-based distribution centre, Pallet Trucks UK also carries a plethora of other manual handling equipment including forklift extensions, stackers, lift tables and more.

Pallet Trucks UK has applauded the compassionate spirit of freight workers after they joined forces to deliver goods to Children in Need’s CarFest charity events. The drivers banded together to deliver 27 pallets of stock to CarFest North in Bolesworth Castle, Cheshire and CarFest South at Laverstoke Park Farm, Hampshire.

The CarFest events are weekend festivals that have raised a whopping £7.4m for Children in Need since they began, with this year’s festivals playing host to a range of big-name music stars such including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Busted, Manic Street Preachers and Rick Astley.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “It’s fantastic and heart-warming to see workers across our industry taking time out of their own lives to help Children in Need.

“I’m aware that workers from multiple different firms teamed up together to form a transport link and delivered stock to both the CarFest festival in the north of the country as well as the southern event in Hampshire. From the pictures on the CarFest website it looks like everyone had a brilliant time!”

Companies involved in the charity efforts include Somerset-based logistics firm Just Vans Ltd, KRL from Telford, Newtonabbey-based Montgomery Transport and Andover-based AET Transport. This is the third consecutive year that the firms have got involved with helping to provide goods for CarFest.

CarFest’s event organisers called upon the firms to collect 27 pallets of stock and deliver them to their event showgrounds in order to ensure the festivals lived up to their reputation of being a fun-filled weekend packed with an array of attractions. The freight workers took up the call with gusto and delivered 15 pallets to CarFest North and 12 pallets to CarFest South, with the pallets also being collected and taken back to warehouses after the festivals had ended. Naturally, this was all done completely free of charge.

Phil added: “Children in Need is a brilliant charity and has changed the lives of thousands of young and disabled people since it was created; a huge well done to everyone involved with this year’s CarFest festivals and Children in Need.”

Children in Need is an iconic and well-known UK charity owned by the BBC that has raised over £600m for disabled children and young people in the UK. The charity holds an annual telethon every year to raise money for its cause, with the 2017 event scheduled to be broadcast later this year on November 17, 2017.

Pallet Trucks UK provides a vast range of manual handling equipment to the logistics industry including moving skates, heavy duty and galvanized steel pallet trucks, forklift fork extensions and lift tables.

Pallet Trucks UK has paid tribute to the industrial spirit of workers in Britain after the manufacturing and industrial sectors smashed expectations in August, causing the pound to rise in value.

Figures recently released in October show that total production output in the industrial sector was 1.6 per cent higher in August than a year before, beating expectations of a 0.8 per cent increase. Output in manufacturing, which is the largest portion of the industrial production figure, also defied the odds with an increase of 2.8% against a forecast of 1.9%.

This caused sterling’s value to increase by 0.3 per cent against the dollar to $1.3184 as well as edging 0.01 per cent higher against the euro to €1.1193.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “Seeing the value of the pound climb thanks to the vital work of everyone involved in the manufacturing and industrial sectors is brilliant news for both the industries themselves and the country as a whole.

“The task now for us is to carry on as we have done and build on the brilliant progress we’ve made to ensure a vibrant and prosperous future for manufacturing in the UK.”

News of the increase in the pound’s value thanks to the manufacturing and industrial sectors follows on from encouraging data from September, which showed the UK’s manufacturing industry recording its first “significant” month of growth this year in July. July saw a production expansion of 0.5% driven by a sharp 13.7% increase in car production, which was the fastest rise recorded in official data on the car industry since March 2009.

Phil added: “There seems to be an upward trend of manufacturing and industrial productivity in the UK since July, and hopefully we can carry on in the same vein up until Christmas and into the new year.”

The construction industry also defied expectations, albeit to a lesser degree, after it saw 0.6% month-on-month in August 2017 against predictions of 0% growth, with the surprise rise growth being predominantly driven by a 1.7% rise in all new work.

Pallet Trucks UK supplies a wide array of manual handling equipment to the construction industry, including equipment such as forklift extensions and hydraulic jacks used to lift weights of 25 tonnes.

Many of the company’s wares are also used in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, with pallet trucks being vital in ensuring continued product outflow at factories and moving skates used being used to move weights of up to 80 tonnes safely and securely.

Leading manual handing equipment retailer, Pallet Trucks UK has added an entire new product range of hydraulic jacks to its already enormous catalogue.

A wide array of different hydraulic jacks ranging from machines with 3t capacities to jacks with 25t capabilities is now available on the Pallet Truck UK website. The new additions provide hydraulic lifting equipment for all purposes, with the product arrivals coming just as businesses up and down the country gear up to end the year on a high.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Truck UK’s Managing Director, said: “We’re pleased to announce that we’ve added a brand-new product line of superb quality hydraulic jacks to our existing range. This gives us a really broad mix of models and extensive choice, with a solution to suit virtually any lifting application.”

The new range includes budget jacks with 3t capacities and super-low lifting toes at one end of the scale, extending all the way up to heavy-duty, industrial-strength 25t jacks made with heat-treated steel and electrically-welded bases and cylinders for added strength.

Hydraulic jacks are used to lift extremely heavy loads and are used by many trades for a variety of uses across the UK, including lifting cars and vehicles for repairs, the installation of heavy machinery, shipbuilding and bridge building.

Hydraulic jacks work by applying pressure through the handle to the small cylinder which is connected to a larger cylinder. This pressure, when transferred to a larger cylinder with a larger area, generates increased force and is therefore able to lift extremely heavy weights.

The expanded Pallet Truck UK’s range now offers a huge choice of series and models including the MHC range of heavy-duty, industrial strength jacks, the HM range of manual hydraulic jacks and the TB Toe Jack series.

The new range of hydraulic jacks includes industry-standard features such as safety values for overload protection, resistance to extreme temperatures and removable pump levels.

The hydraulic jacks can be paired with Pallet Trucks UK’s moving skates, which can be placed under a heavy load once it’s been lifted. The load is then lowered down onto the skates for easy transportation.

Pallet Trucks UK has urged workers in transport and warehousing to remain vigilant after the two industries were named as being common for exploitation.

Modern slavery is a horrific practice which is currently rife in the UK, with victims of modern slavery being trafficked into Britain and forced to work long hours in return for very little pay, with most of the victim’s wages being passed on to the traffickers.

Independent law enforcement charity Crimestoppers has joined forces with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) in an effort to stop the growing issue with its ‘Spot the Signs’ initiative, which is designed to help people spot the symptoms of people who may be victims of exploitation.

Phil Chesworth, Pallet Trucks UK Managing Director, said: “It’s terrible that such a disgusting practice is going on in the UK, often right under our noses. Victims of the practice may repeatedly come into work bearing injuries because of the abuse they endure, and tend to have inappropriate clothing or safety equipment for the job they’re doing as they can’t buy it themselves.

“With warehousing and transport being industries we’re very much involved in, I’d like to urge anyone who thinks that someone they work with might be being exploited in this cruel manner to contact Crimestoppers immediately.”

Victims of modern slavery are often kept in packed accommodation with other victims to create larger profits for traffickers, and many tend to be malnourished or underweight due to them not being allowed to buy their own food.

Further signs of exploitation include workers wearing the same clothes, being unhygienic and being collected and dropped off from work early in the morning or late at night. Victims of modern slavery may also appear to be scared of talking and hesitant to make eye contact, as well as having little or no identification or documentation.

Phil added: “Many victims of modern slavery come from eastern-European countries and have a bias towards industries which require manual labourers, which is why warehousing and transport jobs have been named as being common areas for exploitation.”

The National Crime Agency predicted last month that modern slavery is likely ‘in the tens of thousands’ in the UK, a shocking figure considering that the number was said to be around 3,600 by the UK Government in 2016.

Modern slavery also commonly forces victims of human trafficking and migrant workers to work in prostitution, drug smuggling, manufacturing, car washing and agriculture as well as transport and warehousing.

Pallet Trucks UK produces a range of long-lasting, high quality products which are widely used in the UK transport and warehousing industries such as pallet trucks, stackers and forklift trucks.

The UK-based company also sells products such as moving skates, platform lifts, lift tables, sack trucks and drum loaders, and as a result often does sells its wares to workers and businesses in the construction industry.