Speak to a Specialist
0800 772 0727
Almost every site around London that takes a delivery needs a counterbalance driver, which is what makes it the most useful ticket to hold locally. WSUK places counterbalance drivers into loading, container and yard work near London on weekly PAYE pay.
Counterbalance FLT jobs around London cover loading and unloading trailers, devanning containers, block stacking and moving stock around a yard. Sites near London want a current accredited counterbalance certificate (RTITB, ITSSAR, AITT or NPORS), normally refreshed within the last three years. WSUK places counterbalance drivers around London at £13.00—£15.00 an hour, paid weekly through PAYE, with no fee to you.
London's warehouse ecosystem is the densest in the country, ringed by the M25 and fed north by the M1. Park Royal in the west is one of Europe's largest industrial estates, packed with food manufacturing, urban fulfilment and last-mile operators, while Thurrock to the east hosts DP World's London Gateway port and logistics park. Barking, Enfield, Dagenham and the Lea Valley add further capacity, and the capital is served directly by the Golden Triangle for national restocking. E-commerce fulfilment, grocery dark stores, parcel sortation, 3PL contract logistics and port-linked distribution all compete for labour, and with Watford, Luton, St Albans and Milton Keynes on the northern corridor, demand for warehouse and forklift staff is constant and fast-moving.
Same-day fulfilment, grocery and last-mile operations swing dramatically with trading peaks and promotions, so London employers continually need to fill temporary warehouse and forklift roles. WSUK supplies pickers, packers, goods-in and goods-out operatives, loaders, warehouse labourers and counterbalance, reach and PPT FLT drivers for peak trading, sickness and holiday cover and short-notice shifts. We manage vetting, right-to-work verification, PAYE payroll and working-time compliance, and we scale teams up quickly for a peak, promotion or port surge then back down, so managers at Park Royal, Thurrock and Enfield hold service levels without carrying costly permanent headcount through quieter weeks.
Counterbalance work is the movement of goods in and out of the building rather than up into the racking. It is more varied than reach work and more of it is outdoors.
Driving into trailers and curtainsiders to load and unload, building and breaking down pallets on the bay, and working to a vehicle departure time.
Unloading shipping containers, often hand-balled onto pallets at the door and then moved by truck. Physical, and busiest at import-heavy sites and the ports.
Moving stock around a yard, block stacking where there is no racking, and feeding production or waste lines. Outdoor work in all weather, so sites provide the kit.
WSUK covers Greater London's warehouse hotspots, from Park Royal in the west to Thurrock, Barking and Enfield in the east and north. We supply temporary warehouse operatives and FLT drivers to urban fulfilment, grocery, last-mile and port-linked 3PL operations, mobilising quickly whenever your trading volumes spike or staff are absent.
A current accredited counterbalance certificate, refreshed within the last three years for most sites, plus a familiarisation on their own trucks and traffic routes. Beyond that, counterbalance roles are the easiest forklift work to get into with modest hours behind you, which makes it the sensible first ticket if you are moving up from operative work. A lot of counterbalance shifts also include some manual handling, and we will tell you when that is the case.
Indicative PAYE rates as a guide — actual pay varies by shift, experience and site, with premiums for nights, weekends and bank holidays. Every rate we advertise is at or above the National Living Wage.
| Role | Indicative pay |
|---|---|
| Counterbalance FLT Driver (days) | £13.00–£14.50 / hr |
| Counterbalance FLT Driver (nights) | £13.75–£15.00 / hr |
| Container Devanning & FLT | £13.00–£14.75 / hr |
| Counterbalance & Reach (dual) | £14.00–£16.00 / hr |
| Warehouse Team Leader | £14.50–£18.00 / hr |
Counterbalance suits operatives taking their first step up, and experienced drivers who would rather be on the loading bay and in the yard than in a narrow aisle all shift.
Counterbalance is the ticket most often used as a lever to pay someone the operative rate for forklift work. We book and pay it properly.
From application to your first shift, with the checks and the payroll handled for you.
Tell us your licence, tickets and which shifts you can actually work.
A named consultant calls within 2 working hours to talk through what fits.
Right-to-work, references and the site induction handled before you start.
Start on shift, then paid weekly through PAYE with holiday accrued.
It depends how close you are to a port or an import-heavy distribution site. Devanning work concentrates around the container terminals and the big import sheds, and where there is a lot of it near London the shifts tend to involve more hand-balling alongside the driving. We will tell you the split before you accept.
Both exist near London. Loading bay work is mostly under cover, while yard moves, block stacking and external loading are outdoors in all weather. Sites issue the appropriate kit, and we will tell you which kind of shift a role actually is.
A forklift that carries the load on forks out front, balanced by a counterweight at the rear, with no outrigger legs. That design is what lets it drive directly into trailers and containers, which is why it is the truck used for loading, unloading and yard work.
For most people, yes. It is the most widely asked-for ticket because nearly every site loads or unloads vehicles, and it is the easiest forklift work to get into without a long history of hours. Reach and VNA pay more but sites are stricter about demonstrable experience.
Usually £13.00—£14.50 an hour on days and £13.75—£15.00 on nights. Drivers who also hold reach and can be used on both typically sit at £14.00—£16.00.
WSUK serves employers across the Golden Triangle. Explore our other locations.
Tell us your ticket and last refresher date. We will match you to counterbalance work around London and reply within 2 working hours.