All contracts are written on a specific mileage but no excess is charged – AstraZeneca takes any losses from the proceeds of selling the car.

Popay describes it as a “combination of a retail product and a business product” for staff. GE Capital provides the fleet management service – hosting the website for quoting and re-ordering, delivery and SMR – although AstraZeneca disposes of the cars itself.

However, that arrangement will change later this year with full management of the vehicles handed to GE.

AstraZeneca originally took responsibility for remarketing its vehicles because of GE’s reliance on auctions.

“Our cars don’t realise the profits they could at auction,” says Popay.

“Five years ago we started using Car Shop for our high-end prestige cars but now GE has more routes to market, which means more opportunities to realise the true values.

"And they are better at micro-managing each individual car to minimise the time for sale.”

The process will be audited against agreed targets at monthly management meetings. AstraZeneca still gets the profits, but pays GE a management fee for disposal.

Six years ago AstraZeneca changed its fuel reimbursement policy for company car drivers.

Rather than using all of the Advisory Fuel Rate bandings it uses a sole pence per mile figure for all drivers based on the 1,401-2,000cc petrol AFR figure of 18ppm.

The move was intended to encourage staff to look at their fuel consumption and the cost of driving for business with a view to choosing more efficient cars.

The more efficient the car, the more money the can ‘earn’ from the reimbursement rate.

It’s a little more complicated than that, however, with AstraZeneca paying staff a tax-free advance which then gets reconciled each month.

“Some drivers took this on board, some haven’t,” says Popay, “but our average CO2 for cars currently on order is around 140g/km.”

AstraZeneca’s 850 grey fleet drivers (including 800 cash takers) are paid the same reimbursement rate if they use their own car on business.

But should they decide to take a hire car, they pay for it themselves. “We have already provided the money for them to get their own car,” explains Popay.

Despite some vocal detractors of Employee Car Ownership, AstraZeneca remains wedded to its policy – it offers clear benefits to the company and its drivers.

As Popay crisply puts it: “It ain’t broke so don’t try to fix it.”

A unique approach to fuel reimbursement

AstraZeneca’s company car drivers pay a membership fee to be part of the Advantage flexible benefits scheme, in addition to their monthly ECO scheme deduction for the car.

This paves the way for a novel approach to fuel reimbursement. Staff do not reclaim mileage expenses – they are paid a fixed tax-free advance based on their anticipated annual mileage.

The figures are reconciled each month and reassessed at the end of the financial year.

If a driver has failed to hit the budgeted figure, AstraZeneca pays HMRC the subsequent BIK charge in addition to the National Insurance due.

“It’s swings and roundabouts – some staff will be overpaid, some underpaid. Their territories change all the time which means their mileages also change,” says Judith Popay.

“We reconcile any overpayment with HMRC – staff aren’t charged.”

Popay recently re-examined all of the ECO scheme’s costs, leading to a reduction in the tax-free advance of around £35 a month per driver due to lower average annual mileages.

“We also looked at the interest rate on the credit sale agreements and reduced that as well. That neutralised the reduction in the advance for the driver,” she says.