The decision was closely linked to the extended replacement cycles: this policy is viable only if the vehicles are looked after to keep maintenance costs low and ensure minimal off-road time.

“If we are going to keep vehicles for five years we have to look after them,” Carter says. “Outsourcing makes the process simpler and gives us 24/7 cover.”

However, the move to FSG wasn’t without its teething problems. Initially costs increased, which Carter attributes to timing. It coincided with the extended vehicle lifecycle which naturally increased the maintenance bill as the cars and vans were being run for longer.

Therefore, the savings weren’t seen for a couple of years.

“Our SMR costs are now cheaper than they were before we outsourced in absolute terms,” Carter says.

“But it’s hard to put a figure on it because of all the other changes we have made to the fleet. We are looking for improvements in all areas all of the time.”

And there is much more to come. Carter’s next big programme is to focus on maintenance and analyse how drivers look after the vehicles as another cost-saving solution.

The first step was to build a system to collect all driver incidents, from accidents to endorsements, and tyre maintenance to complaints.

The threshold is set at two points per mile which is accumulated over the course of a month.

“It allows us to identify who looks after their vehicles and who doesn’t. We look at the trigger and then offer suitable training,” Carter says.

“There is no more sheep dip training that everyone has to go through; it is more sophisticated.”

There is clear evidence to support the strategy: one in five of Stannah’s drivers have no points on the ranking database and their vehicles are below its target pence per mile running cost.

In addition, the proportion of the fleet which exceeds the two points per mile speed threshold on a monthly basis has fallen from 10% to 1% in the four years since the database was introduced.

Carter’s challenge now is to pool the information from Stannah’s driver risk database with ARI’s maintenance data and the telematics systems which are installed in every vehicle.

This will generate individual driver metrics which will be used to inform drivers about their style behind the wheel and enable them to see how they compare against everyone else in the fleet. It will be phased in over the next year or so.

“That’s the impactful bit,” Carter says.

“It’s about the psychology of drivers: they pass their driving test and then they have a biased feedback system about their performance. We want to give them factual information that ranks them so they can improve their performance.”