A total of 144 vehicles have been delivered by ALD Automotive to three housing associations in the North West of England and there are already a further 123 orders in the pipeline with more anticipated to follow. More than 230 of the vehicles either delivered or on order are light commercial vehicles, mainly panel vans, with the balance company cars.

Procure Plus, a not-for-profit regeneration company is a consortia of social housing providers with stock in the North West. It is the largest consortium which, with other social housing consortia, works cooperatively under the brand name of Re:allies.

The four-year fleet framework agreement brings the public and private sectors together to collectively lease or purchase vehicles and access a wide range of vehicle-related services at the most advantageous prices for everyone in the supply chain, including landlords, contractors and suppliers.

ALD Automotive is one of four vehicle suppliers to win a place on the framework agreement and has also been approved to provide vehicle servicing, maintenance and repairs and vehicle defleet services. The selected contract hire and fleet management companies will provide everything from basic lease to fully maintained and managed vehicles.

The first vehicles delivered under the agreement were to three housing associations in the North West, which are members of the Procure Plus consortium - Stockport Homes, Parkway Green Housing Trust and Moorlands Housing, a member of Harvest Housing Group.

ALD Automotive managing director Keith Allen said: “The agreement enables organisations to leverage their collective buying power to obtain vehicles and a comprehensive range of fleet-related services from industry-leading organisations such as ALD Automotive.

“The fact that ALD Automotive has preferred supplier status and has delivered the first vehicles underlines the ability the company has to meet demand for often specially-equipped vehicles in a complex market sector at a competitive price while ensuring customers receive a market-leading high quality service.”

Paul Towers, senior project manager for Moorlands Housing, said: “As a member of the initial project group Harvest has been involved with Procure Plus’ new vehicles framework from the outset, giving advice on our specific requirements. The new framework has enabled us to obtain preferential rates on contract hire through economies of scale, and the addition of Procure Plus members and their suppliers has added leverage through volume. This subsequently gives us additional weight in the supply chain to provide increased services levels and price stability in their sector.”

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