North-east contractor Deerness Fencing & Landscaping has added the first Mercedes-Benz vans to its 45-strong fleet. 

The company’s five new Sprinter 313 CDI long chassis cabs were supplied by Dealer Bell Truck and Van and are fitted with 14ft Ingimex dropside bodies.

They are now working across the region on new-build housing projects, schools and other public buildings, and industrial and retail sites.

Jim Bates, managing director of Deerness Fencing & Landscaping, said: “We’re using the Sprinters to ferry staff, tools and materials to and from our work locations.

"They give us a good carrying capacity in terms of both weight and volume, but at 3.5 tonnes gvw they can also be driven by any member of the company team who holds a standard driving licence.”

Deerness Fencing & Landscaping has historically favoured another van brand. “We tried some Sprinters on hire, though, and they performed very well,” added Bates.

“We always run a certain number of rental vehicles to give us the flexibility we need to cope with peaks and troughs in our workload.

"However, we’d reached a point where we had too many hired vans, so we decided to add to our owned fleet.

“Bell Truck and Van sales executive Andy Scott had been knocking on our door for some time, and we knew the Sprinters were up to the job, so we decided to give him a chance.”

Deerness Fencing & Landscaping operates as an independent business but is part of the Esh Group, which has a combined turnover of more than £190 million and employs more than 1,000 staff across the north of England.