Top Three (L to R): Chris Potten, John Lawson Jnr and Colin Price

The RTITB Operator of the Year Competition Midlands & Southern England National Final took place last week on Wednesday 15th June; the event was hosted by TNT Express Services UK & Ireland in Tamworth.

The competitors took part in two practical tests (The BBC and The Platinum Ring), a pre use check and a theory test, and they were marked on a "penalties" basis, the competitor with the lowest number of penalties after all finalists had completed the tests was crowned Midlands & Southern England National Champion.

TNT Kingsbury

The event was attended by employers, accredited organisations, instructors and the general public all of whom expressed that they had thoroughly enjoyed the day. Entertainment was provided alongside the testing for all attendees. There was a caricature artist there for all visitors to take away a special memento of the day, and a Nintendo Wii competition to which a prize was presented for the fastest lap. There was also a 360° visual training simulator on site provided by Mission Room.

The day concluded with the announcement of the Midlands & Southern England National Champion by Andrew Wetters, Senior Policy Advisor for HSE's Workplace Transport Team, who gave a very informative speech about Health and Safety in the workplace before congratulating all of the competitors, employers and training organisations that were present on the day and represented the industry so well.

John Lawson Jnr

John Lawson Jnr from Nuneaton was crowned as the Midlands & Southern England National Champion. John is employed and trained by TNT Fashion Group based in Lutterworth. The champion received a red Buyagift voucher and a trophy sponsored by Toyota Material Handling UK, he will also go forward to the Grand Final on Friday 16th September where he will compete for the chance to be RTITB Operator of the Year 2011. John highlighted how he had really enjoyed the day. When asked about progressing to the Grand final he said "It's absolutely fabulous that I've got through to the next stage and I'm really looking forward to it".


The 1st runner up on the day was announced as Colin Price, from Telford. Colin works for Cables to go and was trained by AES Training Services. He received an orange Buyagift voucher and will also go through to the grand

Colin Price

final. Colin said the following of the day "It was excellently choreographed and organised, the facilities at TNT were outstanding, and the competitors were a great bunch of guys and girls. I was shocked to get 2nd place" it took Colin a few seconds to realise his name had been called out "I was very surprised and am chuffed to have been selected for the Grand Final. Colin would also like to thank everybody that made the day possible.

The 2nd runner up was Chris Potten who is trained by Apex Training Services, and employed by Moorhouse and Mohan Ltd. He received a jade Buyagift voucher. All competitors were given certificates on the day to highlight their achievement of getting through to the National Final stage.

The National Final stage of the competition is now over and all that remains is the Grand Final to determine who will be crowned as the RTITB Operator of the Year. The Grand Final is taking place on September 16th 2011 at RTITB's headquarters in Telford, Shropshire.

The 10 Grand Finalists have been confirmed as:

1. Gary Maher, trained and employed by TNT Express Services UK and Ireland
2. John Wainwright, trained and employed by TATA Steel
3. Robert Watson trained by John McWhinnie Forklift Training and employed by bpi.visqueen
4. Simon Bottomley trained by Manx Industrial Training and employed by Nazaleze Ltd
5. Samuel Millar trained by Woodhill Training Services and employed by Wright Buses
6. Brendan Meagher trained by Jungheinrich Lift Truck and employed by P2 finishing
7. John Thomas trained by I.T.S. UK Ltd and employed by Tesco PLC
8. Stephen Roberts trained by Gatewen Training Ltd
9. John Lawson Jnr trained by and employed TNT Fashion Group
10. Colin Price trained by AES Training Services and employed by Cables to go

The Grand Final is open to the public; however attendance (via www.rtitb.co.uk/fltcompetition) should be registered in advance as places are limited.

The RTITB Operator of the Year 2011 is sponsored by Toyota Material Handling UK and TNT Express Services UK and Ireland.

The trucks that were used in the finalist testing were supplied by Toyota Material Handling UK and were Toyota 7FBMF electric powered counterbalance trucks, with a 3 ton lift capacity and a 4.3m FSV mast.
The logistics for the event were supplied by TNT Express Services UK & Ireland and was driven by their Fleet Driver of the Year.

About the Competition

The RTITB Operator of the Year Competition gives lift truck operators, their employers and their trainers the chance to showcase excellent training and operating skills. The event is a nationally recognised lift truck safety competition and prides itself on being safety and standards conscious. The competition sets out to acknowledge the hard work and skill that lift truck operators deliver daily in their job, whilst also raising awareness of the need for accredited training. The 3 stages are: an online theory and hazard perception test; national final testing held throughout the UK and Ireland and finally the Grand Final held at RTITB's headquarters in Shropshire. All prizes and trophies at the Grand Final will be awarded by Jane Willis Director of HSE's Cross-cutting Interventions Directorate. The 2nd runner up will receive £1000 of high street vouchers, the 1st runner up will receive a luxury holiday and the champion will receive a brand new car. TNT Express Services UK and Ireland and Toyota Material Handling UK are platinum sponsors of the competition.

RTITB
The core business of RTITB is the accreditation of materials handling equipment training, an activity carried out under HSE, HSE NI and HSA recognition. We accredit the training provided at over 600 training locations throughout the UK and Ireland and have a register of instructors in excess of 8000, all qualified by examination, along with a register of operators in excess of 250,000. The scope of our accreditation schemes include lift trucks and large goods vehicle as well as bespoke accreditation of equipment used in ports, airports, construction, agriculture, horticulture and by rescue services.

In 2003 RTITB purchased its current headquarters in Telford, Shropshire and established The RTITB Academy which provides Lift Truck and LGV instructor training, in support of its accreditation activity.

RTITB has monitored the development and introduction of the Driver CPC Directive since the late 1990s, resulting in the introduction of the Master Driver Consortium. The consortium already has a 160 strong membership and covers over 200 training locations throughout the UK. The Master Driver Consortium offers a high quality total management solution to the challenges faced by the logistics industry following the introduction of Driver CPC.

RTITB aims to set standards in accreditation and raise the standard of training by modernising training materials and systems. We are Centre for Assessment Ltd registered and operate Quality Management System BS EN 9001:2008 and operate an environmental policy. We will continue to strive for excellence together with the organisations we work with.

For more information click to view the RTITB website.

The National Finals are open to the public; however attendance (via www.rtitb.co.uk/fltcompetition) should be registered in advance as places are limited.