Independent truck, coach and engine parts specialist IMEX has completed a sale and rentback deal with TOM Vehicle Rental which has seen its older vans purchased and replaced with a more fuel-efficient fleet.

The outsourcing exercise aims to unlock further financial and operational benefits for IMEX by avoiding downtime and repair costs as well as freeing up capital for reinvestment in its core activities as the business grows. It recently expanded its depot network to eight wholly owned sites and launched a new, all makes commercial vehicle parts programme.

Arthur Pinkney, managing director for IMEX, said: “With a fleet of 52 vehicles operating throughout the UK, it became evident that we were focusing far too much time on the procurement, maintenance and disposal of these; time that was taking us away from our core business.

“We talked to a number of companies and decided that TOM were the right match for us. Their ability to meet our timescales with a flexible and no nonsense approach was refreshing.

“Our fleet will continue to grow with our business and it’s great to know that TOM will be at our side to support every step of the way. It’s like having an unpaid transport manager on the books.”

TOM implemented a fleet demonstrator program for IMEX to allow the business to test what would be the right size van for their operation, meaning they weren’t paying unnecessarily for larger vehicles than the business needed.  This resulted in a mix of new Citroen Dispatch XL Enterprise and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter LWB models being supplied with livery to ensure the vehicles make the right first impression with IMEX’s customers. All vehicles were supplied by TOM’s own dealerships.

James Rafferty, sales and marketing director for TOM Vehicle Rental, said: “Our Rentback solution offers ownership fleet models a smart switch into a fixed cost, risk-managed solution for the right vehicles their business needs and our depot network expansion has been an enabler to us offering this to national customers like IMEX. We look forward to supporting IMEX’s continued growth and success.” 

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