Mentor gains AITT Excellence status
Chesterfield, United Kingdom
The Association of Industrial Truck Trainers (AITT) has awarded Mentor FLT Training with the coveted AITT Excellence status, following its latest training standards audit.
With all of Mentor's forklift training courses accredited by AITT, the training provider is subject to regular reviews, but Excellence status is reserved for those deemed to 'go above and beyond the normal industry requirements'.
Among other measures, Mentor earned the accolade by implementing robust internal and external monitoring schemes and annual audits for instructors using AITT documentation, to ensure training always meets required standards.
Excellence status is also reserved for providers who operate dedicated training centres and actively utilise AITT's ACORNS registration database, which Mentor uses to record details of all AITT accredited training courses.
To date, Mentor is one of only a handful of AITT members to have achieved Excellence status.

Combilift raises awareness - and funds
Monaghan, Ireland
Combilift has teamed up with author Emer Conlon to produce a children's book with characters based on Combilift products.
According to Conlon, when writing the book, The Forklift trucks and their Secret Superpowers, "it was important to achieve a balance between Combilift branding and creating a story featuring endearing characters that children would fall in love with. The Combilift adventure is a real page-turner, filled with drama and excitement. The book also has a couple of 'baddies' - these are not Combilift trucks, I may add!
It is a wonderfully appealing story for children."
The book also features a three-page activity section at the back, which includes something for all age groups.
Combilift co-founder Martin McVicar believes it is very important to be involved with the education of the next generation, citing the company's programs, including apprenticeships, tours, etc. "However, our new CombiKids initiative will involve even younger children with Combilift. The idea is that little ones would 'buy into' the Combilift brand when they are young by creating an association with it - thus encouraging future engineers and lots of other budding talent, as well as motivating children to read. It is a great way to highlight Combilift to a wider community that may not be overly familiar with it."
All proceeds from book sales will be donated to the Make a Wish charity.