Tuffnells is expanding its partnership with Enterprise Flex-E-Rent to cover HGVs on both rental and contract hire, to improve the flexibility of its fleet.

The ‘Big Green Parcel Machine’ specialises in handling large, heavy, irregular and bulky items for its business customers.

It has opted to employ a mix of fleet funding methods, including ownership, leasing and rental. This has provided greater flexibility for the business and has enabled it to adjust capacity to accommodate significant business growth both during and post-lockdown.

The company has taken 21 new 7.5-tonne trucks on a six-year contract hire agreement, extending the existing 170 HGVs and 20 delivery vans it has from Enterprise on a flexible rental programme.

Simon Parsons, services director at Tuffnells, said: “We scrutinised how we manage and finance our fleet, and the Enterprise team provided valuable guidance. This demonstrated the benefits of using a mix of funding and fleet acquisition methods, maintaining a flexible solution to meet our requirements.

“We have a long-standing relationship with Enterprise, and we worked with the team to put flexibility at the heart of our fleet strategy. Combining rental and ownership with contract hire means our fleet is ready to face any challenge. It means we can rapidly scale up or down as demand changes, it’s easier to handle maintenance, and we get fast access to replacement vehicles at a moment’s notice.

“The surge in demand caused by the lockdown is just one example of how important flexibility is to a business where being responsive to customer needs is the number one priority. Providing our drivers with new vehicles is very important to us. It demonstrates the commitment we have to them and provides the right equipment to safely deliver for our customers.”

Danny Glynn, managing director at Enterprise Flex-E-Rent, added: “Tuffnells is a highly-regarded part of the UK delivery sector and its distinctive vehicles are a familiar site in every part of the country. We were delighted to have the opportunity to work closely with the board to develop a flexible rental programme for a large proportion of the fleet.

“Adding contract hire means that the business can cover all its bases – a solid core of vehicles on long-term leases, with rental to provide scalability and flexibility to reduce risk while ensuring vehicle availability on demand when required.”

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