FOR many people the sight of a milkman is likely to evoke a bygone era, however a very modern incarnation is looking to change that.

The Modern Milkman, a company based on Nicholas Street in Burnley, appeals to environmentally conscious households by offering a plastic free range, milk sourced from local farmers and allows customers to order through a custom designed app.

Now company founder Simon Mellin hopes to bring his service to new markets thanks to a partnership with fellow East Lancashire firm Coolkit, an award-winning van conversion firm based in Burnley, to design a new and expanded range of delivery vehicles.

Mr Mellin said: “Our milkmen and women are the backbone of our business, they’re on the front line, so it is really important to us that they are comfortable and happy!

“The design we chose was the most ergonomic for our drivers and will help make their job easier, especially now we have a wide range of products.

“The two-section design will allow our drivers to deliver more products to even more customers, whilst making it easier than ever before.”

Coolkit worked to identify the Fiat Doblo as the perfect vehicle for the Modern Milkman’s purposes and worked to build a prototype of a new delivery float.

After testing the vehicles on the roads of Greater Manchester and making a few enhancements, Mr Mellin was thrilled and has now set about equipping his milkmen and women with the new vehicle.

He said: “We were really happy with CoolKit’s design process.

“The ability to see a prototype of the custom build modernised milk float made the decisions easier as we could visualise any opportunities or barriers to the design.

“The collaborative process was unique, and it felt like CoolKit were ready to help at all stages, which meant the final design was even better than we expected.”

He also believes that the ongoing success of the company is also good for the environment, helping to reduce the use of plastic and encourage recycling.

Mr Mellin said: “As our business continues to grow, the custom build milk floats will allow us to further expand our range of return and reuse groceries to encourage even more customers to help us reset our throwaway society.”

For there part, the team at Coolkit were excited to put their skills to good use on a range of delivery vehicles that could become local icons.

CoolKit’s sales and marketing director Glenn McCulley said: “We have never before been asked to convert a vehicle to help milkmen deliver a range of fresh groceries in darkness, but as company recognised for our R&D and innovation, we knew we could present The Modern Milkman with the solution they needed.”

The Modern Milkman’s reach is rapidly expanding across the UK, to find out if deliveries are available in your area go to: https://themodernmilkman.co.uk/.