A TRAINING provider is taking on more staff after two years of growth.

Durham Logistics College, based in Langley Park, near Durham City, is recruiting five workers as it gears up for further expansion.

From offering three training courses, it now delivers 1,000, ranging from basic numeracy and literacy for shop floor workers to management courses.

Managing director Kevin Rumfitt, a former supply chain manager in the automotive industry, set up the company after his own experiences of training provision.

"I knew what wasn't out there in terms of training," he said. "I'd been frustrated trying to train my own staff for ten years whilst working in industry.

"I knew what needed to be offered and that there was a real hole in the market."

Blue chip companies to use his firm include Nestle, Nissan, Procter & Gamble and Berghaus.

The firm is part of a partnership that has won accreditation from the Learning and Skills Council as a Centre of Vocational Excellence for logistics and transport training.

Mr Rumfitt declined to reveal figures for its multi-million pound turnover, but said it had increased tenfold in the past two years.

He attributed part of the success to Business Link County Durham, which provided marketing support in 2002. Its experts helped to rebrand the company, update the product information brochure and develop a website.

"I knew we had an excellent range of products, but marketing has unlocked its potential enormously and that is massively down to Business Link support," he said.

This helped to get the most out of the company's flagship product, Productivity Tools Training. Manufacturing companies using the programme now account for 60 per cent of its client base.

The firm has moved into a bigger unit on the Aryanna Business Centre and is increasing the workforce from 19 to 24. It also has about 60 trainers on a contract basis, to deliver the courses.

Business Link account manager David French, said: "Kevin had the foresight to recognise what needed to be done and used Business Link support to his advantage.

"The company deserves every success and our confidence in the company was reflected when we used them to train our own staff."