Ocado has selected Bridgestone as its new tyre supplier, fitting its entire home delivery fleet with Blizzak W810 all-season tyres.

It’s the company’s biggest UK van tyre fleet win to date as Ocado runs more than 1,500 Mercedes Sprinters.

The contract lasts until 2020, with maintenance across 20 different sites being provided by the Bridgestone Partner network.

Ocado’s fleet service manager Graham Thomas said: “We hadn’t looked at changing our tyre supplier in the past, but we got to the stage where we wanted to understand the other options available on the market. Bridgestone impressed us from our first discussions as they had a team who paid particularly close attention to detail and the weight of their Blizzak W810 product is ideal for us too, as it helps maintain maximum payload for our 3.5t van fleet.

“Staying with a tyre all year round was desirable, following our own reviews and the nature of the journeys we make. The flexibility of the Bridgestone Partner network also worked well for us. When you work with local dealers you see real entrepreneurs at work, making sure each job is done to the very highest standard. This resonated with us.”

Ocado opted for Bridgestone’s Blizzak W810 because it performed so well in all conditions and provided maximum payload for each van, thanks to it being such a light product.

Bridgestone’s national fleet executive Neil Collison added: “We have demonstrated the strength of our product to Ocado through a rigorous testing programme over a number of months.

“This is a huge fleet partnership for us, as we want to increase our presence in the van market and demonstrate our strength in this area. We have a top performing product range that can meet the demands of any fleet and this is coupled with a holistic aftercare service all year round.”

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