Who are Newark Vehicle Hire?
Established in 2015, Newark Vehicle Hire is a family business. The selection of hires offered is centred on light commercial vehicles (LCVs), although its range stretches from Ford Ka cars through to long wheelbase Ford Transit Luton vans with a tail lift, which are the most popular choice.
The company’s Fleet Manager, Becky Webb, said: “We pride ourselves on being able to offer our clients a range of quality modern vehicles for short term hire on terms that suit their needs, with flexi-hire and long-term contract hire available to meet requirements from one day to four years.”
How big is your fleet?
Currently, there are almost 350 vehicles in the company fleet, 95% of which are LCVs.
How would you describe the geographical spread of the company vehicles?
The business operates from a single site in Newark, Nottinghamshire, and its business is based in this area, but a number of new, recent contract wins have seen its customer base start to stretch across the country and this growth is expected to continue.
How did your company deal with vehicle service, maintenance and repair (SMR) requirements before using ServicePoint?
Becky said: “Because our customer base has historically been quite localised, we were able to use a small selection of trusted suppliers near to our site, and this worked well for a number of years. However, as we have expanded geographically, there have been increasing problems when it comes to finding suitable SMR arrangements near to our customers.
“Our initial solution was to try using fast-fits because they offer national coverage but their model just didn’t provide the flexibility we needed. In some instances, once a contract had been signed, we would look for garages near to the new customer but we just didn’t have any local knowledge about price or reputation. We also looked at establishing our own national network but it became clear that this was going to be a mammoth task and anyway, we might only use a supplier once or a handful of times, so wouldn’t be able to negotiate favourable rates.
“The whole thing became something of a conundrum.”
How does Allstar ServicePoint solve these problems for you?
Becky said: “A staff member recommended ServicePoint, having used it in a previous company, and it has quickly become clear that it answers all of our needs. While we are quite new users, it’s been easy to adopt, with our fleet team able to get up to speed with the portal very quickly.
“We are now able to make SMR bookings close to our hire drivers, wherever they are in the country, at times and in locations that meet their requirements. That kind of customer service is an important part of our offering.
“The system also makes it easy to manage costs. We can see what we are going to pay and, if there are queries, communication with garages is fast and transparent. The rates we are accessing are competitive and we can be confident in the quality of suppliers.
“All the problems that we were experiencing previously have been resolved and it’s been very beneficial for our business.”
What strategic benefits do you feel Newark Vehicle Hire has gained from Allstar ServicePoint?
Becky said: “As we continue to expand our customer base across the country, ServicePoint allows us to provide SMR wherever our customers need, meaning there is minimum disruption to their operations and maintaining our high service standards, while we can be sure that we are using a highly professional supplier and paying the right price. Essentially, it is supporting our growth by allowing us to offer national coverage without having to hire an entire maintenance team.”
Would you recommend Allstar ServicePoint to other businesses?
Becky said: “Absolutely. For a business like ours, it is an outstanding SMR solution.”
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