Award-winning support for fleet electrification

The UK’s largest privately-owned contract hire and fleet management company is celebrating a year of achievements.

In March, Northamptonshire based Grosvenor Leasing was named Leasing Company of the Year (up to 20,000 vehicles) at the Fleet News Awards 2024 and in October it announced a team restructure to support its growth plans and enhance the customer experience for fleets.

The newly expanded business development team, which now spans the whole of the UK, is driving sales and growth by identifying and developing relationships with new customers, it said.

It recognised that fleet operators face “substantial challenges” navigating their way through the next few years and say the restructure will provide a dedicated extra layer of service as well as offer a richer customer experience.

At the time, managing director Lee Brown explained: “We have experienced record growth over the past three years, and we have ambitious plans for further expansion, so the restructure is a vital cog in achieving our aims.

“Crucially, while we are investing heavily in technology, it will not be at the expense of our person-centred approach, as we want more face-to-face time and better communications with customers, enhancing service.

“Our success stems from being a people-centric business, so our customers will also benefit.”

Brown says the company was delighted that Fleet News Awards judges recognised its hard work and commitment in helping customers go green.

"Excellent initiatives"

Awards judges praised Grosvenor for introducing “a number of excellent initiatives over the past 12 months which are supporting fleets on their transition to electric.”

They highlighted the company’s flexible switch programme for electric vans and were also impressed with its salary sacrifice scheme for home chargers and its clear zero emission roadmap.

“Strong downtime processes are delivering measurable customer savings as evidenced by the outstanding testimonials from a good mix of fleets,’ judges said.

Its flexible van product, Electric Van Switch, allows businesses that order a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle to exit those agreements without penalty and transition to an electric van that’s suitable for them, as and when an appropriate vehicle becomes available.

This allows commercial vehicle operators to maintain vehicle replacement cycles while remaining able to react quickly when an electric vehicle that matches their requirements is introduced to the market.

Operators can ‘dip their toe in the water ‘should they have concerns about going electric.

“Talking to customers and finding out their needs continues to be a key focus of our business,” Lee Brown, Grosvenor Leasing

The company has been working individually with commercial vehicle operators to understand their needs and help them to identify the vehicles that they may be able to transition now and which they will need to delay as they wait for a more suitable product.

Brown said: “We identified early on that it was going to be a challenge for commercial fleets to transition to electric. And from a sustainability perspective, it’s the right thing for us to do for our customers.”

Guiding fleets to sustainability

Awards judges also highlighted Grosvenor Leasing’s Ozone solution, which was launched in 2017 and helps to guide fleets to a more sustainable future, tackling the environmental, operational and financial implications of operating ultra-low and zero-emission vehicles.

The service incorporates EV funding, charging solutions, the establishment of a robust green car policy, and driver education to ensure a smooth transition to cleaner vehicles.

Grosvenor also offers Evaluate, which allows customers to order used electric cars and vans on flexible hire terms, from one month to three years. Customers can also extend to a longer-term lease if the vehicle meets their needs.

Additionally, under Grosvenor’s salary sacrifice scheme, customers benefit from extended risk protection. This includes free vehicle returns if an employee leaves the company and contract extensions of up to 12 months at no extra cost for employees on long-term leave (e.g., maternity or sick leave).

The company also offers a home charging salary sacrifice scheme, enabling all employees – whether or not they have a salary sacrifice car – to save up to 40% on the cost of installing a home charger.

Other achievements include improving accident repair downtime and cutting downtime-related costs, for example by securing replacement courtesy vehicles for unplanned repairs from garages who previously didn’t supply them.

Fleet roundtables

As part of its Fleet Engagement Programme, Grosvenor regularly hosts roundtable discussions with fleet managers to address challenges and share best practices. These sessions, the company says, ensure it stays closely aligned with its customers' changing needs.

Brown (pictured) added: “The roundtables bring a lot of clarity to the difficulties fleet operators face. We held a roundtable with commercial fleet operators and were able to understand their challenges. It was also useful for the operators to hear each other’s challenges.

“Talking to customers and finding out their needs continues to be a key focus of our business.”

Grosvenor says having a dedicated megastore retail site for ex-lease vehicles provides direct insights into the used car market and the evolving demands of used buyers.

This facility is integral to the company’s strategy for managing residual value (RV) risk and maintaining consistency in contract hire pricing, an especially critical advantage during a period of significant volatility in the electric vehicle (EV) market.

At the end of each contract, vehicles are processed through Grosvenor’s de-hire centre, where they undergo inspection, repair, and refurbishment as needed. Once prepared, vehicles are either directed to the company’s retail operation or sold at auction.

As previously reported by Fleet News, a collapse in battery electric vehicle (BEV) used values has impacted the financial performance of the FN50 this year. 

Collectively, the FN50 reported pre-tax profits of £1.39bn – down £645m on the £2.04bn achieved last year and slightly less than the £1.5bn reported by the FN50 in 2022.

Brown said: “Residual values had been falling continuously until about five months ago. We’re seeing Black Book stabilise now and for some models they are improving.”

He backs the BVRLA’s call to Government to strengthen demand for used electric vehicles.

“Unless the Government do something, used retail buyers will do what they feel is right for them financially,” he said

As for the future, Brown remains tight-lipped on future Grosvenor products but says: “We’ve been doing a lot of background work; talking to customers and looking at the market trends and statistics so we can be sure that we are in the right place to advise our customers for the future. There will be some exciting stuff coming out next year.”