Latest News NEW DRIVER CPC QUALIFICATION AVAILABLE Thu 03 December 2009 The Driver CPC is for LGV and PCV drivers who drive professionally throughout the UK. It has been developed as a requirement of the EU Directive 2003/59, which is designed to improve the knowledge and skills of professional LGV and PCV drivers throughout their working life. There are two parts to the legislation: The Initial Qualification that must be achieved by new LGV and PCV drivers along with their vocational licence to enable them to use their licence professionally. Periodic Training, which involves all professional drivers undertaking 35 hours of training every 5 years. The training arm of the Insitute of Vehicle Recovery has been granted a licence to deliver CPC requirements, having been authorised to deliver three courses totaling 21 hours towards the 35 hours required. It is envisaged that further courses will become available in the near future to offer the recovery industry a full package of 35 hours that is needed to meet legal requirements. With this in mind A1 Marsden training are now able to provide DRIVER CPC course's at their Annesbourgh training centre. There will be a variety of courses running at A1 Marsden Training, however to save time and cost we are delivering DRIVER CPC combined with (VR)vehicle recovery modules. For example: VR1 HEALTH AND SAFETY: Achieving this will contribute to 7 hours towards your 35 hours periodic training. VR1 HEALTH AND SAFETY, VR3 ROADSIDE SAFETY AND VR6 TRANSPORTERS. Sitting and achieving these 3 modules will count as 21 hours towards your 35 hours CPC These courses will commence early in 2010 and anyone intrested in finding out more or booking course's, should contact Kieran Rice by ringing A1 Marsden or by email kieran@a1marsden.com BELFAST KEPT MOVING DURING TALLSHIPS Mon 17 August 2009 The Tallship's arrived in Belfast on Thursday the 13th of August, and over the next four days they brought an estimated 800,000 people to Belfast and the Harbour estate's. With so many people arriving in the city, the free flow of the road network was top priority. With that in mind a number of agency's approach A1 Marsden recovery to help with the problem's that such a large volume of vehicle's would bring to the city and the road network around the dock's area. Agency's including the P.S.N.I, Belfast City Council, Harbour Police, Translink and The Oddessy Arena all availed of the specialist service's A1 Marsden provide. These include parking solutions, trading license enforcement and of course keeping the road network clear. Over the four day's A1 Marsden had Three vehicle's on site within the harbour area and because there were 300,000 more people than expected we had to increase that, with Saturday seeing one of the greatest concentration's of people ever in Belfast. With the huge park and ride carparks filling up very quickly and the sheer number of people attending, it soon became clear that this would be a huge event. The M3 bridge over the Lagan proved to be a major concern as the stunning view's of the Tallship's from the bridge led to a few bumps between vehicles, but these were moved quickly and were not allowed to grind the traffic flow to a halt. Saturday saw the biggest crowd's attending the event, but over the next four days everything ran smoothly. It also proved that Belfast can handle large events and large crowd's with out having to much traffic chaos. With well thought out park and ride facilties, excellent policing and more than a little help from A1 Marsden recovery it's fair to say the city of Belfast sold itself to the World as an emerging city capable of hosting blue chip event's as good as any city. A1 MARSDEN PRAISED FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE DURING RECENT FLOOD'S Thu 21 August 2008 The weekend of the 11th of August will long live in the memory for most motorist's within Ireland for all the wrong reasons, but for the staff of A1 Marsden it proved that careful planning and foresight can make things run smoothly, even during the worst of weather conditions. As floods had been predicted by the M.E.T office, A1 Marsden had more staff than usual working on the weekend of August 11th, but as the rain began to fall it became apparent that the full compliment of staff would be needed to over come the weather conditions. Unlike extreme snow or ice recovery vehicles can still function safely in most flood conditions, so we had a obligation to maintain our normal high standards and duty of care to our customers. It all started at 16.30 when the first of the rain's started to fall, by 20.00 71 vehicle rescues had been accepted, all due to water ingress. Two things became clear as the night wore on. The first thing was that there were hot-spots, were vehicles were getting stuck in floods, secondly a lot of people had made there way home instead of staying with their stranded vehicles. With this in mind rescue vehicles were sent to these hot-spots and told to recover the flooded vehicles to predetermined rendezvous point's. Then a multi car transporter would move them 7 at a time to our Lurgan depot. To compliment this a key collection service was set up using two 4x4's to collect vehicle keys from customer's homes and then take them to the rendezvous points, were the rescue vehicles could then pick them up and rescue more than one vehicle at once. The worst areas for floods where Templepatrick, Newtownabbey, Lisburn, Ballynahinch and of course Belfast as the West-Link was closed. By Midnight on Sunday A1 Marsden's Lurgan compound was holding over 100 cars due to water ingress and trying to plan re-deliveries for Monday. We had also handled in excess of 370 jobs either by attending, sub contracting or within our call handling service for other recovery companies. Praise was received from a number of recovery clubs. Mondial Assistance's Robert James contacted A1 Marsden to praise what he seen as an exceptional effort during what were the worst floods in living memory in Ireland. Also for maintaining high levels of customer care and adjusting the structure of our service to meet the changing circumstances and needs of their customers. This was only one of many contacts we had to thank us for our high standards during the floods. DEDICATED MOTORCYCLE RECOVERY UNIT'S LAUNCHED Tue 03 June 2008 A1 Marsden have launched two dedicated motorcycle units to service the increasing volume of motorcycle recovery and repatriation emcompassing the United Kingdom and Ireland. These bespoke vehicle's offer totally enclosed movement of motorcycles and also carry a workshop facilty that carries popular parts and puncture repair equipment. The hydraulic ramp and fitted winch makes the loading of even the biggest motorcycle easy and safe for one person. These long wheel based vehicle's can easliy carry the largest touring or customized bike's, and have c.c.t.v. fitted inside and outside giving complete peace of mind. With A1 Marsden now the preferred carrier for BMW Motorrad and Harley Davidson within Northern Ireland these vehicle's were seen as a natural reaction to the expectation's of not only the dealerships, but also owners who have invested substantially in their machine. The units based at Lurgan and Belfast have already serviced a large volume of motorcycles within their first month, and have been involved in the North West 2000 and Isle of Man T.T. A unit will also be on show at Provincewide Harley Davidson for their anniversary on the 28th of June at the impressive Antrim showroom. A1 MARSDEN WIN ANOTHER TOP NATIONAL AWARD Sat 22 March 2008 A1 Marsden Recovery won another top national award when Connor Marsden won "The Jack Ovenden Award" at the Institute of Vehicle Recovery AGM. The award is named after Jack Ovenden FIVR and was presented to Connor by Jack's son Nick Ovenden. Jack's love of the Recovery Industry and his commitment to the IVR and training lives on in "The Jack Ovenden Award". One of Jack's favorite sayings was "Assume Nothing". This is engraved on the award and it is presented at the IVR AGM to the Outstanding Student of the Year, nominated by the trainers. The nominee's are short listed and then invited to attend the AGM Dinner. All nominee's receive a certificate of merit. The winner, decided by a panel from RRTA, (the trainers association) recieves a glass trophy. The award itself takes pride of place at Asford Recovery in Kent, engraved with the winner from each year. The six finalists this year were Connor Marsden - A1 Marsden Mark Riches - Hampshire Police David Patrick - Ontime Bolney Derek Bellamy - Birmingham City Council Roy Morris - CSG Neil Allen - Ontime Kent This is the second national award won by A1 Marsden in the past six months and continues to show the heights that we strive for within both recovery operations and training at A1 Marsden. John Marsden (Belfast Depot Manager) said "Its a great feeling to be up against some of the top recovery firms and people for these awards, and to actually win them show's how much we are pushing recovery within Ireland to the highest standards". NEW HEAVY VEHICLE ADDED TO FLEET Tue 18 September 2007 A new heavy recovery vehicle was added to the fleet this week in the shape of a Scania 8x4 fitted with a Boniface engineer Recoverer Trident System. The keys were handed over to Linda Marsden by Mike Boniface of Boniface engineer (pictured) at the A.V.R.O show which was set in the City-West hotel in Dublin. The new vehicle, which will operate from the Lurgan depot at junction 10 of the M1 is packed with extras. It has a heavy duty fully hydraulic under reach with a 30 tonne capacity. Sidewinder winching system and twin DP 50,000lb winches, all are fully remote control. The stainless steel body has the new deluxe boniface locker system and is finished off with a T style flyer. This is another major investment in recovery equipment by A1 Marsden and was brought on by a increase in calls for heavy recovery in mid-Ulster area and southern Ireland. For further information on this vehicle and heavy recovery from the Lurgan depot contact depot manager (Lurgan) declan@a1marsden.com LOCAL TALENT RECOGNISED AND REWARDED Thu 06 September 2007 Belfast Recovery Specialist wins Mondial UK Incentive Reward Programme Belfast Recovery specialist, A1 Marsden fought off tough competition to become one of 13 winners of Mondial UK's Incentive Reward Programme. Recognising and rewarding the hard work and commitment of the unsung heroes of the recovery industry, the Programme focuses on staff in the control centres, through to the operatives by the roadside. All winners attended a presentation at the European Tow Show, at the International Exhibition Centre, Telford, England on Thursday 28th June to claim their prize at the Mondial stand. The Programme is an illustration of Mondial's ongoing commitment to raising the bar in the industry. The Programme closed at the end of March, with A1 Marsden Recovery Specialist, claiming the top prize of £6,500. Each of Mondial's recovery operators were categorised from 1-5, depending on the volume of jobs conducted during the six month period. The judges reviewed all aspects of the service, including complaint ratio, ETA accuracies, communication, perfomance, presentation, customer comments and overall improvement. Robert James, technical services director of Mondial UK comments, "A1 Marsden is a very deserving winner, illustrating a clear focus on customer care at every level. We are delighted to be able to shine the spotlight on the men and women of the recovery industry and celebrate the quality of their work. "The standard was very high, so the winners should feel very proud of this prize. Mondial believes in motivating its recovery staff at every level, to ensure its customers receive a quality service when they need it most. The Incentive Reward Programme promotes best practice, which in turn benefits staff and customers, as well as setting the standard throughout the industry."