We’ve been recruiting family members to drive HGV delivery lorries and encouraging team members to take their licences to help out. HECK’s Roddy and Mica have stepped up to the challenge!
In a bid to circumvent the food sector’s crippling shortage of hauliers, with the Road Haulage Association estimating the UK is some 100,000 lorry drivers, HECK! co-founder Andrew Keeble said the brand is delivering it's popular vegan, chicken and pork bangers and burgers, via his son Roddy who took his HGV licence last year. Roddy’s wife Mica, who met and married Roddy at HECK! is also taking her HGV licence.
HECK! has been forced to take matters into its own hands following numerous failed requests for drivers. Andrew commented, “We’ve tried our regular haulier, we’ve tried outside hauliers, but there is no availability, they all just laughed at me when I said I wanted a lorry tomorrow night.”
As a result, Roddy, who possessed a class one HGV licence, is ferrying HECK’s new launches from its Bedale base across the country “just so we can get the stuff out on the road and keep our bangers on burgers on the British plate”, Keeble said.
"An HGV licence is a great skill to have and allows us all to muck in and fill the gaps when needed," says Roddy. "It allows us to respond really quickly when we have new listings and also meet seasonal demand. HGV drivers are really the life blood of the country."
HECK! has also implemented a 6% pay rise across its workforce last week, which complemented an existing annual bonus of £1,000, Keeble said.
If anyone is interested in working for HECK!, either to train as a driver or work across the company, email joinus@heckfood.co.uk. The company is currently recruiting in its mixing room, despatch and shows and events teams. See those jobs here: