Staff and bosses at Leyland Trucks are celebrating after scooping two awards at the prestigious Manufacturing Excellence awards.

The firm, based in Farington Moss, won the IMechE Award for Best Financial Management and the Warwick Manufacturing Group Award for Logistics and Resource Efficiency at the ceremony held at London’s Dorchester Hotel.

Leyland Trucks, a designer and producer of light and medium weight trucks under the DAF brand, attributes the outstanding growth to a change of workplace culture that focuses on a team approach, as well as a financial boost, their parent company PACCAR invested £75 million in Leyland Trucks in the past five years.

Jim Summer, managing director of Leyland Trucks, said: “It is great that our ability to continue producing at high volume and to consistent high quality has been recognised, which is testament to the commitment and professionalism of every one of our 1,400 employees.”

The assembly plant’s list of manufacturing milestones in the past five years includes gaining a 27 per cent market share in the UK, increasing annual production from 16,000 DAF trucks to 27,500 this year and the production of the 300,000th truck at the plant this year, marking the sites 30-year-history.

The firm is also doing its bit for the environment, further developing hybrid technology as it focuses on reducing carbon emissions from the transport sector, with production of a hybrid range starting in 2009.

John Garside of the Warwick Manufacturing Group said: “Companies such as Leyland Trucks show how they understand customer needs and are able to translate them into product specifications, quantifying the potential volumes and target costs.“