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One Stop Service for Housing Trust
The ability to offer a one-stop leasing and fleet management service that, crucially, included the bespoke equipping of newly delivered vans, helped convince newly established Watford Community Housing Trust to forge a business partnership with Venson Automotive Solutions.
Building a Robust Fleet Solution
The Trust was created in partnership with tenants and leaseholders, to take over the ownership and management of more than 4,700 homes and local neighbourhoods from Watford Borough Council in September 2007.
Initially the Trust's operatives, which include plasterers, electricians, gas fitters, bricklayers, plumbers and carpenters, continued to drive vans provided on service level agreements from the council. Meanwhile, fleet management was undertaken by the in-house council team.
However, with some of the vehicles almost nine years old and none fitted with specialist racking for tools and other equipment they were deemed 'unfit for purpose' by Trust management.
A lengthy tender process resulted in Venson Automotive Solutions winning a three-year contract hire with maintenance and accident management deal, which has so far seen the supply of 14 new Ford Transit and Ford Connect vans with a further five vehicles in the pipeline and possibly six more to follow.
Fit for Purpose
Venson Automotive Solutions' negotiated the terms of the vehicle deal directly with Ford having decided in conjunction with the Trust that the company's vans were the most suitable for the job required.
Venson's Yorkshire-based Equip for Service division then fitted out the vans with a wide range of features before delivering directly to the Trust in early 2009.
As well as carrying the Trust's livery, vehicles are equipped with racking, deadlocks with armour plate, hand basins, roof racks, ply lining, rear steps, reversing sensors, additional power points, additional interior lighting and roof tubes for holding pipes.
Glen Day, the Trust's responsive repairs manager, said: "Previously each operative had a van and it was left to each operative to rack out their van as best they could."
Such a 'Heath Robinson' approach was declared unacceptable by the Trust's new management team from both a health and safety at work view point as well as staff morale.
Mr Day said: "Now the new vehicles have been delivered with the full range of features it means improved working conditions and employer health and safety compliance. Additionally, morale of the operatives has been boosted, they now have a vehicle that is fit for purpose as each vehicle has more useable space because of the way they have been equipped and as previously mentioned there are many added extras that benefit the operative in many ways."
Return on Investment
The new vans are also equipped with telematics devices - supplied by a third party and fitted by Venson Automotive Solutions - which are contributing to improved driver safety and security, reduced vehicle operating costs and improved workload efficiency.
Additionally, each operative has been provided with a hand-held PDA (personal digital assistant), which, combined with the telematics technology, further helps direct the nearest operative to the next job thus reducing journey time.
With each vehicle travelling approximately 10,000 miles a year in the council territory, Mr Day said: "Most of the operatives are lone workers so employee security is a concern. The technology enables the Trust and operatives to be in constant contact and work efficiency as well as safety and security has improved."
Although it is too early to identify actual cost savings as a result of improved job allocation efficiencies, Mr Day said: "While the operatives were initially concerned about the introduction of telematics, if they are not doing anything wrong then they have nothing to fear.
"Improving their safety and security was the reason for introducing telematics as well as boosting our business and fleet efficiency."
He concluded: "Venson Automotive Solutions won the contract because of the organisation's ability to deliver a fleet within a specific period of time that was fully equipped to meet our requirements."
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