This year’s Corporate Vehicle Observatory barometer report, which is managed by Arval, highlighted that companies with less than 100 employees lagged behind their larger counterparts when it came to environmental practices.

That suggests smaller businesses have not made the link between environmental performance and cost benefits.

As LeasePlan acknowledged: “An organisation’s failure to green its fleet has potentially severe repercussions from a financial, social and legislative perspective.”

Creating a ‘pro-green’ agenda within organisations is, say experts, about changing cultures and creating ‘ambassadors for change’ within organisations.

The Government’s hoped for charge towards electric vehicle usage led by the fleet community has so far fallen flat.

However, an experiment by Amey Group, one of the UK’s leading public services providers, has seen Matt Dillon, principal service delivery manager with fleet responsibility, conduct a two-month comparison test between his diesel company car (a Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion Tech SE) and an electric Nissan Leaf.

His conclusion: “It’s not enough just to spend a few hours or a day in an EV. You have to live with the electric car and become an expert in its strengths and weaknesses.

"Only four journeys during the two-month period called for the Passat because they were too long for the Leaf.

"And on two of them I’d have been happy to take the Leaf if there had been fast charge facilities at my destination.

"My perceptions improved as I became more familiar with the electric car and my confidence in it grew.”

If directors need proof of the business benefits of going green then perhaps one of the best examples is Cheltenham-based Commercial Group, the largest independent business services group in the UK.

Operating a 60-strong fleet, it has sliced 75% off its carbon footprint in a period that has seen the company expand 50%.

Company environmental strategist Simon Graham said: “The savings from the investment and returns from the environmental programme were the equivalent of our sales team generating £3m worth of new business in 2010 in a recessionary period.”

As Hollick says: “Fleet professionals need to show senior decision makers how and why green policy reduces fleet costs.

"Every tonne of CO2 pumped out by a fleet costs its operator £560 in fuel purchases alone – and two to three times as much in total operating costs.

"Cut fuel, cut mileage, cut CO2 emissions, cut costs: it’s that straightforward.”