McLaren Automotive has become the latest organisation to join the Driving for Better Business (DfBB) campaign as a Business Champion.

The company is also the first new Business Champion since Highways England took on the campaign to form the core of its new business outreach programme earlier this year.

The way in which McLaren Automotive has managed its driving at work activities has seen the company achieve more than 50% reduction in fleet insurance claims and a 22% reduction in fleet insurance premium in just three years.

McLaren Automotive’s chief executive officer Mike Flewitt said: “I have a vision of excellence in driving standards that reflects us as a brand and that is equally important whether employees are driving a McLaren car or any other car on company business.

“All our driving should be done in a ‘McLaren’ way, to a standard of excellence admired by onlookers.

“I am extremely proud that the Driving for Better Business campaign has recognised the work we have done.

“It reflects well on all those within McLaren who drive as part of their role, or are involved in the management of our drivers and vehicles.”

Hannah Gregory, driving and road safety manager for McLaren Automotive, was appointed to oversee the company’s improvements in this area and to develop new policies and procedures.

One of the company’s biggest challenges was to fully understand the full range of at-work driving activities, and the risks present in each.

They include:

  • On-road and on-track development of pre-production models
  • On-road pre-delivery routines for customers’ cars
  • On-road use connected with aftersales and servicing of customers’ cars
  • Staff using their own cars for business journeys
  • On-track events and motorsport for customers.

She set up and ran a series of workshops to give business drivers the opportunity to shape the driving at work policy and explain what their driving duties entail, how they view the risks and suggest practical solutions.

Gregory said: “First of all, we had full support from the senior management team. This support, and the fact that we consulted fully with all our drivers, made them feel valued and engaged.

“The resulting driving at work policy has been welcomed by our drivers as reasonable and workable, and which is evidenced by the strong rise in standards.”

Pictured: (L) Simon Turner, campaign director for Driving for Better Business; Mike Wilson, chief highways engineer and Highways England’s executive director for safety, Engineering and Standards; Mike Flewitt, chief executive officer at McLaren Automotive, Hannah Gregory, driver and road safety manager at McLaren Automotive; Louise Gulliver, managing director at the Institute of Directors.

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