After a major review, contruction firm Geoffrey Osborne has outsourced its in-house fleet management and switched from outright purchase to contract hire.
The decision was taken as the fleet grew to levels that made it more cost-effective than in-house management, the firm claimed.
Colin Brewer, the construction company’s plant procurement manager, said outsourcing fleet management made increasing sense as the firm’s number of vehicles, and the in-house expenses, grew.
He said: ‘When we did a cost analysis comparing the benefits of in-house fleet management with the benefits of outsourcing we found there were significant savings to be had.
‘For a fleet operator with 400 vehicles I don’t believe the economics of scale are there to run an in-house operation.’
The deal, involving the sale and leaseback of Geoffrey Osborne’s existing 390-strong fleet of cars and vans, will see fleet supplier Lombard take on all fleet management responsibilities for the firm.
This includes a 24-hour repair and maintenance package plus a daily rental service.
Brewer added: ‘There was also significant service improvements for our drivers.
‘Instead of having to drive 50 miles for servicing or repair work at one of our workshops, we can go to any one of a network of Lombard’s dealers.’
Brewer claimed this meant instead of managers delivering vehicles more time could be spent on site where safety is critical. He said: ‘The risk to the sites of them not being there was enormous.’
Geoffrey Osborne’s now-redundant workshops are being converted to storage and office space.
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