Built on a haulage business
Nithcree did not start as a training company. It grew out of an established, family-run haulage business, and the people who set up the training side knew first-hand what a haulier needs from a new driver: someone safe, confident on the road and ready for the realities of the job, not just the test.
The Dumfries training centre opened on Edinburgh Road in Heathhall in 2001, and Nithcree Training Services Limited was incorporated in 2004. From the start, the approach was the one we still use: hire instructors for the years they have spent doing the job as well as for their qualifications.
From lorry licences to more than twenty courses
Lorry licences have always been at the heart of it: C1 (7.5 tonne), Category C and C+E. Over the years we added the training working drivers need to stay on the road and do more with their licence:
- Driver CPC periodic training, as a JAUPT-approved centre
- ADR dangerous goods training, with SQA examinations
- RTITB forklift and ALLMI lorry loader courses
- Direct Access C+E and B+E towing courses, shaped by the DVSA rule changes of 2021
- NPORS plant training in 2024, which added 13 construction courses in one go
Today we run 10 logistics courses and 13 plant courses. That is why our name now says Logistics & Construction Training.
A second centre in Perth
In 2021 we opened our Perth centre, so drivers in Perth and Kinross, Dundee, Fife and Stirling could train without travelling to Dumfries. Within months it was home to a No One Left Behind pilot project with Perth & Kinross Council and the Scottish Government, helping unemployed and low-income people into HGV driving.
Recognised in the Scottish Parliament
Our work bringing new drivers into the industry has been highlighted in the Scottish Parliament, where a local MSP named Nithcree as one of the Dumfries businesses encouraging people to become HGV drivers.
What hasn’t changed
Twenty-five years on, the things that made Nithcree work in 2001 are still the things we care about most:
- 90%
- of candidates who train with us pass
- 300+ years
- of industry experience among our instructors
- Max 3
- trainees per machine on most plant courses
Every instructor has driven, lifted or operated for a living, the office team comes from haulage and warehousing, and we still check funding with you before you book. Read more about how nine out of ten of our trainees pass.
The next 25 years
The industry has changed a lot since 2001, and the need for well-trained drivers and operators has not. Whether you are starting out, changing career or training a whole fleet, we would be glad to help. Get in touch or call 01387 256528.