Company details
Name Hannaford
Business project management and construction
Fleet manager Leigh Stiff
Size of fleet 29 vehicles, 50/50 vans, cars
Brands Citroen, Ford
Grey fleet 20 vehicles

Conventional fleet wisdom is that small companies don’t need dedicated fleet managers. Roddy Graham, chairman of the Institute of Car Fleet Management, said in Fleet News (April 9) that what’s needed is professional managers in a part-time role, sharing responsibilities with another job function, typically HR or finance.

Hannaford, a project management and construction company based in Hertfordshire, takes a different view. It recently a pointed a full time fleet manager, Leigh Stiff, after Hannaford accountant Matt Vier struggled to cope with the growing demands from legislation and fleet responsibilities.

“Four years ago I went on a Fleet 21 seminar – it scared me into using their services for running our fleet,” says Vier. “Fleet 21 set us up with ALD and that’s where the relationship started with Leigh.”

As an account executive at ALD, Stiff was managing the fleet operations for a number of companies, small and large. Vier approached him to join Hannaford last November.
“I couldn’t dedicate the time that the fleet needed regarding Duty of Care,” says Vier, who took over fleet duties from Fleet 21 two years ago.

“We wanted the company to be protected 100% but I wasn’t able to spend that much time on it due to my other responsibilities.”

With a fleet of 29 vehicles, split 50/50 between cars and vans, and almost as many greys, Hannaford is an archetypal small enterprise. So what’s the minimum fleet size before a company needs a dedicated fleet manager?

“It depends on how much effort you want to put into managing the fleet – how much attention you want to give to health and safety and how much you want to reduce costs,” says Vier.

Stiff adds: “That’s not the right question; the question is ‘do you want to have total focus and control over your fleet?’.”

Hannaford’s annual fleet spend is £260,000 – Stiff is confident the annual spend can be reduced to around £200,000. He is already saving money, sometimes in an unconventional way thanks to his love of car modifying.

“I can be more hands on because of the size of the fleet,” he says. “If a vehicle has a dent I can pop it out because I have the equipment, so there won’t be a recharge. I can also fit parts myself such as wing mirrors.”

Stiff was able to draw on his experiences at ALD, pulling together best practice from a range of fleet operations. At 30 years old, the ACFO member is one of the youngest fleet managers in the country.

His first action after joining Hannaford was to get a copy of the driving licences, MoT and servicing details for each of the 20 grey fleet drivers. “We have to treat them the same as the fleet,” he says.

He brought accident management in-house and set up his own accounts with Kwik-Fit and the AA. But the biggest impact was dealing direct with Citroen for the supply of cars.
“ALD put the manufacturer discounts in place but not the dealer discounts – I negotiated direct with Citroen,” Stiff says.

“We also have a relationship with the local Citroen dealership to get discounts form them and we get rolling demonstrators in for staff to test.”

Vier adds: “Leigh has the time to build these relationships and this is what we were missing out on before.

“He manages everything in house that was outsourced. Now it’s just the finance on the vehicle that is outsourced. We are saving £4,500 on contract hire renewal per vehicle over 36 months by cherry picking the best deals, using the support terms from Citroen and using a nominated dealer .”

Hannaford is inching towards a solus Citroen deal, apart from directors’ cars. It still has some Ford on the fleet but will switch them across over the next 18 months.
“We already had 10-12 Citroens on the fleet but we improved our bargaining position by promising all our vehicles to them,” Stiff says.

“We got terms from all over the place and from all manufacturers to get the best deal – Citroen was the best. It also has a good car and van range with low CO2 emissions.
Going solus wasn’t all about getting the best price, though. “We also get better customer service and I can manage the relationship for all the drivers rather than them going direct for maintenance. It’s one point of call for demonstrators, ordering cars, etc,” Stiff says.

“It’s sold within the leasing industry that you don’t get the same support from a manufacturer as an individual fleet because you don’t have the clout. It couldn’t be further from the truth. The best rates aren’t necessarily via a leasing company. We have a large fleet deal from Citroen even though we are an SME.”

The argument put across by fleet decision makers against going solus is driver satisfaction: they like to give a choice. Stiff believes this is easily resolved – and the benefits far outweigh any negative.

He spoke to all the drivers, encouraged feedback from existing Citroen users, got demonstrators in on trial and explained the reason for the change in fleet policy, including the improved financial terms. Any initial driver concerns were overcome.

“We have tried to get back to viewing the company car as a privilege not a right,” he adds.

He has just launched a vehicle check procedure which consists of a checklist issued with the drivers’ weekly wage slips. It covers areas like windscreen chips, lights, paintwork, brakes, wipers and mileage and is returned with their timesheets.

Next on the agenda is fuel spend. Stiff is looking at fuel cards and educating drivers to reduce their fuel use. Prices are already sent out to all drivers to inform them about the best deals in their local areas and receipts are checked to ensure they are using the cheapest forecourts.

It’s all possible because of the amount of time Stiff is able to dedicate to the role – sometimes up to 12 hours a day. He believes the fleet manager’s role has become a key job function within a business.

“Corporate Manslaughter has realigned everyone’s perception of the need to manage the fleet. If convicted, will it be the fleet manager that goes to prison? I can see that and I agree with it,” Stiff says.

“Fleet managers will have more responsibility and this is a good thing. I feel sorry for those companies where it is a bolt-on job – if you have a dedicated fleet manager you can make it work.”

Leigh Stiff is on a personal mission to get his fleet drivers to see driving as a pleasure not a chore – he wants to stamp out stress and sees safety as paramount.
The former kick-boxer draws on his own experiences. When in his early 20s he was rear ended while driving at 60mph. The other driver was estimated to be travelling at 110mph. Stiff suffered a broken neck.

He’s remarkable sanguine about the incident now, but it’s clear the experience has given him a different outlook towards safety.

“I speak to drivers about near misses and discuss why it happened,” he says. “If our contractors have had a bad day it affects their driving. You have to understand why they get stressed.”

He has devised an accident form that is kept in the vehicle to record details. Third parties are contacted to check they are okay. Stiff also asks about his drivers’ conduct. He passes on their details to his insurer to handle the claim, which cuts out the accident management company.

The driver handbook states company expectations. No action is taken after the first accident; the second accident requires the driver to pay half the excess; a third accident means they pay the full excess. They will also have to attend a driver safety course at their own expense.

“This shows them where they are going wrong and it helps to build their confidence after the accidents,” Stiff says.

Grey fleet
Leigh Stiff has set up a separate policy to manage and control his grey fleet of 20 vehicles. Drivers must ensure their vehicle is roadworthy, well maintained and has a service history. If requested, they must provide proof within 48 hours.

If they cancel insurance or the car fails an MoT, they must let Stiff know. Renewal dates and service schedules are documented and diarised.

He’d prefer them to come back into the company car scheme. “Cash for cars is more expensive than the contract hire route for the company,” he says.

“I try to make it an uninviting as possible by showing them the costs but we won’t force them to change to the in-house fleet. We let them make up their own minds.”