Driving — van to HGV

A licence is a career. The country is short of drivers.

Basic DBS2–8 weeks to first pay · £26–38k

Today: check your licence

Five minutes on GOV.UK. If you have a full car licence, you can start van work now. Points and old bans don't always matter — check, don't assume.

Free · 5 minutes

First job: van or multi-drop

£26–30k. Courier and delivery firms hire constantly. Basic DBS only for most.

Basic check only

Month 3–12: funded Cat C (HGV)

Government Skills Bootcamps fund HGV training — thousands of places, and being out of work helps your case, not hurts it.

£0 · funded

The ceiling: £38–50k

Class 1 drivers are among the best-paid non-degree workers in the country. Owner-driver is a real self-employment route.

Not sure where your record stands? Since October 2023 most records become spent far sooner than people assume — and spent records are invisible to a Basic check, like the ones on this route.

Check yours — it stays on your phone →

Real places to start

View your driving licence (GOV.UK)↗HGV Skills Bootcamps (GOV.UK)↗

Links open the real provider. Good:Folk never sits in the middle.

Employers that actively hire on this route

Public programmes for hiring people with convictions — doors that actually open.

DHL Supply Chain

New Futures Network partner — warehouse and driving roles with prison recruitment.

↗

Veolia

New Futures Network partner — waste, recycling and driving roles across the country.

↗

Biffa

Major waste operator — loader, sorter and driver roles with year-round entry-level hiring.

↗