Park Electrical Distributors is taking on a further five Mercedes-Benz plug-in hybrid vehicles to cut costs and demonstrate its commitment to the environment.

The E350e and C350e vehicles will join 16 Mercedes-Benz PHEVs already on the company's fleet and will be delivered by the end of the year.

They will be used by the sales staff and management team, and Park expects a significant saving in benefit-in-kind car tax.

Simon Mooney, sales director for special services at Park, said: “We have been a hybrid advocate for several years and we have seized the opportunity to change the car fleet to the latest generation of Mercedes-Benz.

"The change will benefit the environment, the employees and the company, an all-round win for everyone.

"We estimate Park’s EV vehicles will travel in the region of 220,000 miles a year using electric power, saving around 46 tonnes of CO2 per year against standard combustion engines."

He added: “We have installed a significant number of battery charging stations around our five branches to ensure we can gain the maximum efficiency.

"The North East currently has 300 EV public charge points, in autumn 2017 the Chancellor of the Exchequer committed to spend £400 million to increase the EV infrastructure across the country, encouraging the use of EV vehicles by all.

“We have also started up a little internal competition to see who has the best miles per gallon.”

Established in 1990 by managing director, Barry Wilkinson, Park has a £25 million turnover, with branches in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland and Teesside and opened its fifth branch in Durham last year.

Pictured: Fleet sales manager at Sytner Mercedes, David Leadley, with staff at Park Electrical Distributors

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