Caravan Insurance

The job market may well have become more favourable for van drivers, as a new report suggests an increasing demand across the board for new employees.

In total, more than one quarter of all UK businesses actively recruited new staff over the course of last year, with 27,000 more firms doing so than in 2004, according to the report by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

This trend was particularly strong in the transport sector, where around one third of companies actively sought to bring in new employees, suggesting a greater availability of work for drivers of vans and other commercial vehicles.

Employment minister Jim Murphy commented: "The results of this survey reveal the current strength of the UK labour market. The number of companies looking to recruit new staff is on the increase at a time when employment is at record levels.

"We have set ourselves an ambitious target of reaching an 80 per cent employment rate and recognise that we need to do more to help match those who are now looking for work with the over 600 thousand vacancies in the UK economy."

Regionally, demand for new staff was particularly strong in Scotland, where 45 per cent of all firms were looking to take more people on, while the north east and the East Midlands also posted good results.