Briggs Equipment has won a £5 million contract to supply 400 forklift trucks and other materials handling equipment to builders merchant Travis Perkins.

The new flexible-hire contract is the latest development in a 14-year relationship between the two organisations and includes a range of counterbalance and reach trucks, as well as low level order pickers and other smaller handling products. Also, 250 of Travis Perkins' existing forklift trucks are being replaced with the latest Yale vehicles – Briggs became Yale's UK distributor last year – and 58 trucks have swapped from LPG to electric power.

Briggs has partnered with a leading battery manufacturer to supply batteries and chargers which can be more than 30% more efficient than traditional charging systems. Speedshield, Briggs' operator management tool, has also been deployed.

Nick Wilson, Travis Perkins' general manager for Brackmills Stores, comments: "With over 2,600 pallets that need to be picked and moved daily, our operation needs to run as efficiently as possible to meet demand."

The Yale trucks are provided with a full service and maintenance package and operate across eight of Travis Perkins' UK distribution centres with the majority at its main facility in Northampton.