Fleet Deals

Public Sector

Lessors win in £100m
framework agreement

Arnold Clark Finance, LeasePlan and Lex
Autolease have won places on a £100 million car lease framework
agreement issued by the Common Services Agency, based in
Edinburgh.

The agreement covers “the leasing of an unlimited
range of cars [and] associated services in terms of servicing,
maintenance, roadside support and repair of the vehicles during the
term of each lease,” and may be used by all NHS Scotland Health
Boards and Special Boards, and by Aberdeenshire Council.

Lookers Leasing

£7.5m council
contract

Lookers Leasing has won a contract to
provide leased cars to the employees of Staffordshire County
Council, in a deal worth between £7.5 million and £10 million
pounds before VAT.

The leasing company, owned by car retail group
Lookers, won the deal after a tender process which attracted five
bids.

Lombard Vehicle
Management

RMIF and ReMIT
deal

The Retail Motor Industry Federation
(RMIF) and its training arm ReMIT will in future use cars supplied
by fleet leasing and management company Lombard Vehicle
Management.

The cars – 40 of them with ReMIT, and 20 with the
RMIF – are provided on a sole-supply basis, and are on three-year
contract hire agreements. The lessor is also providing a daily
rental service.

Lombard Vehicle Management previously supplied
ReMIT with vehicles, and this has been extended to include its
parent association.

Managing director of Lombard Vehicle Management,
Stuart Houlston commented: “[The RMIF] specialises in raising
quality standards, providing impartial advice and negotiating deals
for its membership, so our relationship is a valuable endorsement
of LVM from the heart of the motor industry.”

ARVAL

Fleet of 50 vans for Glen
Dimplex

Electrical heating business Glen Dimplex
has ordered 50 Renault Trafic vans to add to its 150-unit fleet.
The vans have been financed through fleet management and leasing
company Arval.

The vans will be based in Glen Dimplex’s Liverpool
site. The company employs over 8,500 people worldwide.

Fleet manager at the heating firm, Andrew Winstone,
commented: “We chose Renault for our fleet as we were impressed
with the Trafic van – it has space for the racking that we fit to
transport tools and equipment, and looks the part in our bespoke
silver metallic paint.”

VOLKSWAGEN GROUP
LEASING

Uniter Group takes delivery
of Octavia fleet

Essex-based technical support solutions
company Uniter Group has taken delivery of 10 Skoda Octavia cars,
citing the model’s low CO2 emissions as a key selling point.

The vehicles were funded by Volkswagen Group
Leasing and supplied by Skoda retailer Darlington’s of Harlow.

Finance director of Uniter Group Peter Buttress
said: “Because we continually strive to reduce our carbon
footprint, we need vehicles with low CO2 emissions. Load-carrying
capacity and running costs are also major factors of importance and
the Octavia meets all these requirements, making it the best
all-round performer.”

SMITH EDISON

Sainsbury’s takes on
electric vans

Sainsbury’s has ordered 51 Smith Edison
electric vans, the supermarket announced. The vehicles will be used
to make deliveries to customers of Sainsbury’s Online in the London
area.

Smith Edison also won a rolling one-year fleet
management contract to maintain and service the new 3.5 tonne
electric vans.

“We are absolutely committed to using zero emission
vehicles where possible as they help keep inner city air clean.
Also, the electricity used to power them generates around 50
percent less CO2 than diesel vans,” said Neil Sachdev, Sainsbury’s
commercial director. “This means that the addition of the new vans
will reduce our road transport emissions by around 155 tonnes of
CO2 each year.”

Sainsbury’s has an existing 20-strong fleet of
electric vans and this new addition means it will operate the
largest fleet of electric vans in the world.

ZENITH PROVECTA

Fleet management
outsourcing deal signed

Trader Media Group, the publisher of
autotrader.co.uk, has outsourced the management of its 250-unit
fleet and 169 cash drivers to fleet provider Zenith Provecta.

“The outsourced fleet management service will
include contract hire, maintenance, accident management, risk
management and daily rental,” Zenith Provecta said.

The lessor has designed a bespoke website for the
media company’s drivers, which allows them to access vehicle
quotations, report any damage, order online and arrange test
drives.

Cash-for-car drivers will be managed using Zenith
Provecta’s Cash Allowance Management System, which ensures
compliance with Duty of Care legislation, and stores relevant
documentation online, sending out reminders to drivers
automatically.

“Our new on-line drivers’ website instantly gives
our employees control over their vehicle choices. We have also been
able to extend the choice of vehicle while maintaining strict CO2
controls, and through Zenith Provecta’s thorough analysis of whole
life costs, we were able to extend the vehicle list without
increasing our costs,” said Joanne Walker, HR director at Trader
Media.