LA Fitness steps up with contract purchase fleet
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Fleet provider Lombard Vehicle Management (LVM) has created an
individually tailored contract purchase package for staff at LA
Fitness, a health club chain.
The deal covers the 50 vehicles in the LA Fitness fleet, with
contract purchase chosen over other alternatives because “a finance
lease cannot be provided with a maintenance contract, and contract
purchase also reduces end-of-life risk,” LVM said. Contract
purchase also gives companies the tax benefits of vehicle
ownership, such as capital allowance claims, with no VAT charged on
the finance element.
LVM’s business development manager Stuart Moore was in charge of
the deal. Delivery of the cars – a mixture of VW Golfs and BMW 3
Series, with a free choice for directors – started in mid-July.
116-vehicle fleet deal with brick firm
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By GlobalDataClay brick manufacturing firm Wienerberger has awarded
independent fleet provider Zenith Vehicle Contracts a contract to
supply its 116 vehicle fleet.
Zenith will supply and administer Wienerberger’s fleet on a
contract hire basis, including a legacy management service giving
drivers a central locus for communication.
Wienerberger HR director Ian Botterill explained that Zenith had
been chosen “on the strength of its proven track record and
reputation.”
Ford car and van fleet for E.ON
Energy company E.ON has committed to a three-year contract hire
deal arranged through Lloyds TSB Autolease to lease a fleet of Ford
vehicles.
Around 2,000 vehicles – both cars and vans – will be added to
E.ON’s UK fleet this year after the contract was agreed. E.ON has
run Ford vehicles for the past 10 years; of its 5,900-unit fleet,
three-quarters of its 3,100 vans are Ford models, with over a
quarter of its 2,800 cars also provided by the manufacturer.
“New Ford cars joining the E.ON UK fleet in 2008 are 340 Ford
Fiesta 1.4-litre Zetec five-door models for employees, as well as
Ford Mondeo Titanium and Titanium X and a small number of Ford
S-MAX vehicles, to be used by business managers and essential
car-users,” Ford stated.
“This is part of a pan-European contract with each country managing
its own requirements,” said E.ON UK’s fleet manager, David
Graham.
Maintenance will be carried out by BT Fleet, with replacement after
five years or 100,000 miles.
The environmental profile of Ford’s vehicles was key to the deal,
with only car model with CO2 emissions below 165g/km
included.
E.ON is currently under fire from green campaigners for its plans
to build a coal-fired power station in Kent, the first new station
fuelled by coal to be built in the UK for 30 years.
Two fleet contract extensions
Venson Automotive Solutions has won
contract extensions with two clients.
The independent fleet management and leasing company has reaffirmed
its existing relationships with Equity Insurance Group and Decléor
UK, a beauty firm. Venson has been providing fleet vehicles for
both customers for three years; Decléor has extended its contract
with Venson for a further three years, while Equity has signed up
for an unusually long contract term of five years.
The Decléor agreement covers 40 vehicles in an open choice fleet,
while the Equity fleet contains 70 vehicles on full maintenance
contract hire, with fleet management and accident management
reporting included.
Equity Insurance Group business services manager Rob Bowen said:
“With a number of impressive suppliers able to supply bespoke fleet
solutions to the market, the decision to extend our current
contract with Venson is testimony to the first class service that
has been provided over the past three years.”
The Decléor fleet, meanwhile, used to be provided by a number of
suppliers, but the extension with Venson has changed provision to a
solus arrangement.
“Venson Automotive Solutions provided the best service out of all
of our previous suppliers and by opting for a sole supply
arrangement we believe we will improve value for money across our
fleet operation over the next three years,” said a Decléor
spokeswoman.
ECO arrangement gives green cars for Fitzpatrick
staff
Construction firm Fitzpatrick Contractors has agreed new,
greener terms for the 460 vehicles covered by its employee car
ownership (ECO) scheme, provided by Provecta.
By encouraging staff into lower-emitting cars, Fitzpatrick aims to
cut its carbon footprint by up to 30 per cent over three years. The
building firm has been a Provecta customer since December
2000.
The benchmark cars for the scheme are “higher grade [but] with
significantly lower CO2 emissions,” Provecta said, with VW, Audi
and BMW models included in the scheme.
Drivers who choose lower-emitting models than the benchmark
for their grade are rewarded with cash incentives.
“We recognised that many of the new technology vehicles with
significantly lower CO2 ratings are often more expensive to
operate, so we took the decision to invest in our scheme so that
drivers could select these vehicles without being out of
pocket.
“We believe that we are the first company operating an ECO scheme
that has increased its costs in order to invest in lower CO2
vehicles,” said Alison Foster, Fitzpatrick’s company secretary.
