During the five years since her official appointment, the fleet has increased in size by around 10% per year and it is set to continue growing at the current rate.
Thrown in at the deep end, Smith’s first priority was to manage a change of leasing supplier.
Fleet expansion had prompted Healthcare At Home to re-tender, eventually taking the decision to move from a small leasing broker to the UK’s biggest contract hire provider, Lex Autolease.
Like many fleets exiting a supplier, the assistance from the outgoing company dried up.
End-of-contract charges increased, but Healthcare decided not to challenge them, preferring to focus instead on forming a close bond with its new partner Lex Autolease.
“They have helped me to learn the job,” Smith says. “They can answer any question I have and their reporting systems help me to understand areas of the fleet that need addressing, such as illegal tyres, non-booking of MOTs or missed servicing.”
Price, as well as service, was an important part of the tender process. However, the biggest savings came with a move to a pooled mileage scheme.
Smith had identified a broad range of annual mileages among the company vehicles. Some were travelling 40,000 miles; others just 10,000.
Yet the leasing contract for cars was set at three years/120,000 miles, which left a considerable gap under the contract threshold for a significant number of vehicles.
A pooled mileage agreement, with averages assessed on a six-monthly basis, provided the solution.
It enabled Healthcare At Home to extend its car operating cycle to four years/100,000 miles which is saving the company money, not only in leasing costs but also in eliminating the fuel costs and man hours spent moving and reallocating vehicles from high mileage users to low in an attempt to keep averages at a reasonable level.
The car scheme is tightly controlled.
The majority of drivers are nurses who receive a 1.3-litre Vauxhall Astra, while those at a higher level have the choice of a 1.7-litre Astra or a Vauxhall Insignia.
A user-chooser option is available for senior management.
To counterbalance the restricted options, Healthcare At Home also offers staff the choice of a cash allowance.
Based on the cost of leasing the car, it gives staff flexibility to opt for something more appropriate for their needs. Around 150 take the cash.
“We don’t want our nurses to walk away because we are offering a 1.3-litre car – there’s a lot of competition for
them,” explains Smith. “It’s their family car and we can’t dictate to them.”
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