Two years ago, Innserve tendered for a new leasing partner as part of a decision to reduce its multiple providers – an historical legacy – to just one. Lex Autolease, an existing supplier, won the contract.

The tender focused on added value and services; a large van leasing provider was also a prerequisite. Price was not the deciding factor.

“We did the benchmark quote and then looked at the added value services,” Binks says.

His view is that most leasing companies use the same accident management companies, tyre suppliers, glass replacement, hire companies and dealer networks so “changing from one to another might save a few pounds but we’re more concerned about the service we get”.

He adds: “It’s not all about the cost. It’s about minimising downtime, receiving a replacement vehicle within two hours if a broken down vehicle can’t be fixed, getting weekly off-road reports – these sorts of added value services.”

Innserve’s technicians are home-based while the fleet operates 365 days a year.

The company faces harsh penalties if it fails to meet its customers’ (primarily breweries) service level agreements. Keeping vehicles on the road is therefore crucial.

Every Friday, Binks gets three reports: vehicle off-road, ongoing repairs and vehicle on-road. Any vehicle entering its second week off-road is queried about the time being taken to repair.

The company’s business is divided into two parts: maintenance and installation.

Each requires its own van spec.

Maintenance technicians receive a 3.5-tonne low roof, medium wheelbase Ford Transit, required to access car parks and city centres.

The installation team has a 3.5-tonne high roof, medium wheelbase Vauxhall Movano for greater load capacity.

Combined, the fleet totals 340 vans.

Why two manufacturers? “We don’t want all our eggs in one basket,” Binks replies. “Both vans are proven and there is little difference in costs.”

Van drivers have the choice of private vehicle usage by selecting the ‘family option’, paying BIK in the conventional way.

Innserve kits out these vans to make them appropriate as family vehicles by installing a crash-tested aluminium floor and crash-tested fold-up seats, for which the driver contributes £15 a month. Around 60% of van drivers take the family pack.

Its 65 company cars, primarily job-need, sit on a user-chooser policy based on wholelife costs. Usual restrictions apply: no cabrios/soft-tops, no two-doors.

CO2 emissions are capped at 130g/km. This replaced a 160g/km cap following the last Budget when the Chancellor announced the lease rental restriction limit would fall to 130g/km from April 2013.