A training company in Nottingham has launched the city's first training centre dedicated to fork lift truck driving.
ASA Training has opened the specialist training facility in Attenborough due to the huge demand from people to learn how to drive fork lift trucks.
Thanks to referrals from agencies across Nottinghamshire ASA Training has seen 200 people complete the course in the last eight months - which includes practical driving skills as well as a learndirect theory based course.
Now ASA Training has launched a brand new centre - Fork Lift United Kingdom (FLUK) - which was opened by some players from the Nottingham Panthers ice hockey team.
Suzanne Wells is the Business Development Manager for ASA Training, which operates a learndirect premier business centre in Nottingham and works with small businesses in the city and the surrounding area.
She said: "We have the largest referral network in the region - including job centres, back to work agencies and work based organisations - for people interested in getting a fork lift truck licence.
"Following the huge success of the training we decided to open a purpose-built training facility to cope with the increasing numbers.
"We aim to provide the learner with the full Road Transport Industry Training Board (RTITB) qualification including both the practical and theory course - all under one roof.
"The RTITB maintains a national register of Lift Truck operators and all our registered learners are put onto a national database for RTITB and receive a passport for work in this field. We think the fork lift truck training course has become so popular because it leads to an industry recognised qualification with the actual experience of operating a fork lift truck in a simulated warehouse.
"With the cost of the training heavily subsidised it also makes it more accessible to a wider audience. On top of that the local area has seen a large increase in the number of warehouse and distribution businesses which means more jobs in this field are being created."