BOOST: Ridgeons looking to up efficiency
Ridgeons are outsourcing management of their 133-strong vehicle fleet to CLM to boost buying and disposal efficiencies and reduce internal administration and operating costs.
The Cambridge-based independent timber and builders’ merchant run a fleet of 114 cars and 19 3.5tonne panel vans.
CLM are now responsible for managing all in-life aspects of the fleet, including vehicle sourcing, invoice and supplier management, service, maintenance and repair and disposal.
They are also providing accident management services across the whole car and LCV fleet.
Ridgeons primarily operate Audi, Volkswagen and Skoda models – used by sales representatives and area, trading and general managers – plus several Mercedes C-Class and E-Class models.
Prior to appointing CLM, the company managed all aspects of the fleet operation in-house with several fleet administrators.
They also outright purchased all vehicles as well as handling their service, maintenance and repair and disposal.
Alistair Brace, General Manager of Support Services at Ridgeons, said his company wanted to reduce fleet operating costs, improve processes and increase efficiency across its fleet.
“Some 15months ago we outsourced the day-to-day management of our commercial fleet to a specialist supplier and, as that had worked successfully, we felt we should also outsource the car and LCV fleet to a specialist, and selected CLM,” he said.
“The changes they have made in a short space of time have been significant and have freed up time for us internally to focus on other issues.
“CLM now uses its buying power to source our vehicles, and handles all fleet administration so that, rather than seeing hundreds of invoices every months, we now see just one or two consolidated invoices.
“They also handle all our service, maintenance and repair work and use a network of independent garages where possible to help reduce our SMR costs.”
CLM typically utilise a network of franchised and independent garages and are usually able to reduce SMR costs for clients by 8-10%.
“CLM have also brought their expertise to bear on our vehicle disposals and we are seeing some uplift in the prices achieved through the used car trading platform that they use,” added Mr Brace.
“And they have also taken control of our accident management, which we used to handle ourselves.
“Now they are the first point of call for our drivers when they have an accident, and handle all aspects of the incident, including liaison with the insurers, repair garages and hire car suppliers, to get our drivers back on the road as quickly as possible.
“We also have our own dedicated customer relationship manager, Emma Walsh, who has been brilliant in handling all problems or queries that we may have.”
Rob Wentworth-James, Head of Sales and Marketing at CLM, added: “We are delighted to have been awarded this outsource contract by Ridgeons, and have begun introducing trusted fleet management processes to improve efficiencies across the fleet.
“For example, we have sought to improve service levels and introduce tighter control on the maintenance management of Ridgeons vehicles which has resulted in considerable savings for the company to date.
“We look forward to a long and mutually rewarding business relationship.”
Image courtesy of XiXiDu, with thanks.
