A 30% year-on-year increase in short term hire bookings has been reported by Ogilvie Fleet.

The independent contract hire and fleet management specialist says that it expects to hit revenues of £6 million this year.

Jim Hannah, operations director, explained that a variety of factors were behind the success, including a very direct business strategy and 1link Hire Network technology provided by Epyx.

“We have developed a dedicated, focussed hire team that keeps things simple and focussed,” he said. “As well as supporting our clients when they need us, we take a proactive approach to seeking out opportunity within our client base and elsewhere.

“The 1link Hire Network e-commerce platform has also played a key part in our expansion, allowing us to manage our large supplier base through one solution. This gives us the freedom to choose the supplier that best fits each rental requirement on the day.

“Being able to use a single platform in this manner is important to us. It provides us with flexibility in the marketplace in terms of our supplier management, but also allows us to support our customers with their booking requirements by offering the facility of the direct booking platform provided by Epyx.”

The Ogilvie rental proposition is to offer blanket national coverage by utilising the combined rental fleets of all the major UK suppliers, while giving customers a choice ranging from small city cars to 3.5 tonne light commercial vehicles of different kinds.

Hannah said: “A key part of our rental management service is recognising that hires happen for a wide variety of reasons, from onward travel at airports and as an alternative to grey fleet to medium-term flexi-leases for longer term needs.

“What we aim to do is not just accept a simple booking but to find out about each customer’s real world requirements and help them to identify the best solution, whether they are an SME, a large corporate or public sector organisations.”

Ogilvie is planning to further invest in its rental operations by employing two rental sales specialists from Enterprise and Thrifty.

Hannah continued: “These new staff will have a free remit to continue growing rental internally and externally while upholding the excellent levels of service upon which Ogilvie prides itself.”

Tim Meadows, operations director at Epyx, said: “Ogilvie is one of the most well-respected independent leasing operations in the country and their use of 1link Hire Network shows how the platform can be used to power substantial corporate growth.”

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