(L-R) Martin McVicar of Combilift, Customer Focus Award winner Ian Mounce of Bristol Forklifts and broadcaster Jonny Gould.

Mitsubishi dealer Bristol Forklifts recently garnered the Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA) 's Customer Focus Award for its commitment to delivering excellent sales, service and customer support.

At an awards ceremony, held at the International Centre in Telford last month, Bristol Forklifts became the third recipient of the national award.

FLTA CEO Peter Harvey said at the ceremony: "Bristol Forklifts has shown real technical excellence to deliver bespoke solutions in two entirely different applications. The first involved the development of a semi-permanent safety cage for an order picker, while the second saw them develop a diesel forklift that combined the qualities of a stevedore truck with a container specification."

Accepting the honour, Bristol Forklifts director Ian Mounce said the company took pride in being able to provide its customers with the highest levels of service, whether it was "specifying an appropriate 'off-the-peg' forklift for a small warehouse operation, or designing and manufacturing a set of bespoke equipment for highly specialist applications".

The decision to choose Bristol Forklifts for the award was based on the delivery of bespoke solutions for Walker Logistics and Bristol Port Company, the FLTA said.

"At Walker Logistics, they needed a semi-permanent, liftable cage solution that operators could bring pallets into, as well as work (in). We took up the challenge by modifying a Mitsubishi order picker with a bolt-on cage that was designed to meet their every requirement.

"At Bristol Port Company, the customer needed trucks that were suitable for stevedoring, as well as container tasks. We worked in close partnership to deliver them exactly the trucks they needed - with lowered cabs, diesel particulate filters, LED headlamps, additional lighting and custom livery... and much more," Mounce explained.