The Mitsubishi N-series at work at Allied Bakeries.

Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks dealer Welfaux Ltd has won a contract to supply 29 forklifts to UK bread-maker Allied Bakeries.

Allied Bakeries has around 1,200 forklifts nationwide, delivers bread with brands like Kingsmill, Allinson, Sunblest and Burgen to several thousand shops daily and has 20 producing sites across the United Kingdom.

Its major customers are all the UK's large supermarket chains, with Tesco being the biggest.

Allied's southern purchasing manager Job Berry said his company worked its forklifts "pretty hard".

"They have to work up to 90 hours a week in some cases. So, above all, we need trucks that are robust and reliable," Berry said.

Welfaux sold Allied 24 N-series LP gas counterbalanced trucks, fitted with special bread clamps, two FB18KT 48V electric counterbalanced trucks and three RB14 & 16 K series reach trucks.

Welfaux director Mike Chalmers said the clamps were not manufactured by Mitsubishi but by a specialist attachment manufacturer.

"They are basically a carton clamp, modified to handle bread baskets. These are handled in stacks which are two baskets wide x two deep x 10 high, a total of 40 baskets, each containing 10 loaves," Chalmers said.

The forklifts had to meet strict environmental controls and targets as they were handling food.

"Forklift tyres produce a lot of fine, black powder under normal operating conditions. We have combated this by fitting what are known as non-marking tyres. These are tyres without the black content, which appear milky white and do not give off the powder.

"Also, the Mitsubishi LP gas trucks are fitted with a clean, lean-burn engine, which also has a three-way catalytic converter attached to burn off any remaining particles and toxins," Chalmers said.

Welfaux, established in 1986, is the main Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks dealer for the Thames Valley, west London, and parts of the Home Counties.