Discount retailer Poundland has increased its specialist forklift truck fleet by 50 per cent on short-term rental from Linde Material Handling to help it meet seasonal peaks in demand.

In the three months before Christmas the high street chain faces a huge increase in demand for its 4,000 product lines which are handled through two purpose-built warehouses totalling 5.6 million square feet.

Linde Creighton supplies Poundland with 120 trucks during normal conditions, and an additional 60 trucks to cope with the increase in orders.

The team uses around 45 low-level order pickers and 15m x 12m reach trucks the majority of the time, but because the trucks have specialist features Linde has to adapt the extra machines.

The materials handling company fits radio data terminals to the order pickers, which are configured to carry two pallets at once, and sends a team to the warehouses to fit the masts on the reach trucks as they are too high to be transported in one piece.

Linde also organises and supplies the additional batteries and battery charging stations which are needed for the peak period.

Kevin Gillespie, corporate account manager at Linde Creighton, explains: “We match the short-term rental trucks as closely as possible to the existing fleet and we supply the trucks to train the operators on any differences.”

Poundland was founded in 1990 and now has more than 280 stores throughout the UK which serve almost three million customers each week. The company is continuing to expand, opening an average of two new shops every month.