A SERIES of major fleet environmental initiatives has helped Britain's largest contract hire and leasing company to achieve environmental quality standard ISO14001. After taking up the 'green' gauntlet thrown down by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, Lex Vehicle Leasing spent more than six months evaluating and then acting upon the environmental impact of running its business in the UK.

Major initiatives introduced have included:

  • The launch of a more environmentally-friendly fleet policy which sees no company car driver able to choose a car which returns under 24 mpg.
  • User-choosers able to downsize and take a cash payment equating to the rental difference between the two vehicles plus £1 for every mile the chosen vehicle returns above the minimum 24 mpg average as published by the Government. Payments are made monthly.
  • Lex Vehicle Leasing offices in Marlow, Sale and Stirling being equipped with video conferencing facilities costing £70,000 which has reduced the amount of time employees spend travelling between the sites, which in turn has reduced fuel usage and emissions and taken vehicles off the road.
  • ISDN lines have been installed in each of its 35 sales peoples' homes which mean they can communicate with their office and customer base from home, thus reducing extensive travelling. A Kent based sales manager has estimated the initiative will reduce his mileage by more than 5,000 miles a year.
In addition the leasing company claimed an industry first when it placed the first liquefied petroleum gas car on contract hire with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council - a Renault Laguna Classic 1.6 RT; last year the company also acquired its own six-strong fleet of LPG fuelled Ford Mondeo 2.0 Ghia X models for customer use; and more recently supplied on contract hire an electric Citroen Berlingo van to Scottish Hydro-Electric.

Other measures taken include the monitoring and reduction of energy usage in the business, and monitoring the use and disposal of materials within Lex Vehicle Leasing offices, particularly paper.