A number of hybrids are already on the fleet as well as small electric vehicles.

“We are evaluating some of the larger electric vehicles but in the past 12 months some manufacturers have gone to the wall,” Jones says.

“If we go to a manufacturer that won’t be around in a few years’ time then where do we get the batteries from?

Where is the technology coming from to maintain the vehicle? It’s a difficult process.”

Electric vehicles are not currently part of e-auctions.

Switching to outsourcing

The MOD purchased its vehicles outright and managed them in-house until 2001 when it switched to contract hire to free up capital.

It opted for a single supplier (Lex Defence, later to become Babcock) on a 10-year contract.

When that contract ended in August 2011 the white fleet, as it was then known, became Phoenix, under Pete Spiller’s leadership.

Babcock Land Limited was awarded a four-year fleet management contract.

“We are the thin line management between the MOD and its suppliers,” Julian Jones explains.

“We do the day-to-day procurement exercises and the management of their lease providers, rental providers and
OEM providers.

"The management of any KPIs and contract performance measures are down to us.”

The contract management team at the MOD, headed up by Pete Spiller, manages the contract with Babcock, as well as assisting with any driver disputes.

Jones says the key to successful outsourcing is partnership.

“Pete and I quickly realised the only way we were going to drive through the efficiencies and make this work properly was to lose the name Babcock, lose the name MOD and just have a Phoenix team.”