Ogilvie Fleet has launched a new graduate recruitment and training programme, with the first four graduate recruits joining the company on February 1.
The graduates will further strengthen Ogilvie Fleet’s 10-strong Britain and Northern Ireland-based sales team as area managers, as the company looks to expand its 10,500-strong company car and van fleet.
The development comes in the wake of parent company Ogilvie Group securing a new funding stream from Barclays Corporate towards the end of last year which ensures the whole business, including the fleet division, has access to funds to achieve growth aspirations.
Ogilvie Fleet sales and marketing director Nick Hardy explained: “We have become frustrated in recent months in trying to recruit high quality area managers with the drive, desire and determination to succeed.
“Although we have been inundated with applications for jobs from potential candidates, they have failed to meet our employment criteria in a number of key areas.”
As a result Ogilvie Fleet has teamed up with graduate sales assessment, sales recruitment and sales training organisation Pareto Law.
Jonathan Fitchew, CEO of Pareto Law, said: “Ogilvie Fleet is a hugely successful company, and to place four graduates with them underlines the quality of graduates and training we deliver.
“In the current climate it is vital that companies ensure they have a sales team that can deliver real results, and this is where Pareto can make a major impact - recruiting new talent and training existing talent to help deliver business success.”
During their first 12 months with Ogilvie Fleet the new graduate recruits will begin to learn about the vehicle leasing industry through a combination of: in-house training and development of fleet industry knowledge; attending dedicated sales training courses run by the agency; and attending specialist contract hire/fleet management courses run by the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA).
Hardy said: “We have decided to ‘grow’ our own account managers as experience suggests that this is the best way of having new, client-facing staff present the image we want.
“I and a number of my colleagues in the Ogilvie Fleet sales team entered the leasing industry as trainees and have all enjoyed successful and rewarding careers as a result. We believe raw talent among today’s graduates can be harnessed and developed in a similar way.
“The lucky recruits will embark on a significant training programme that will turn them into professional consultants, capable of talking to fleet operators about the totality of the service we can provide, rather than simply looking for the next order. Ogilvie Fleet is all about building long-term relationships with clients and meeting their needs in a way that we believe no other leasing company can.
“If the initiative with the initial four recruits proves to be a success then Ogilvie Fleet will continue to build its area manager base through graduate recruitment in the future.”
Eighteen months ago the Ogilvie Fleet board devised a strategic growth plan that focused on operating a 10,000-strong company car and van fleet within three years. That target has already been achieved and now the business is aspiring to a fleet size of around 12,000 vehicles through organic growth over the next two to four years.
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