SOCIAL housing provider Connaught has awarded Vauxhall a massive fleet order for 1,200 vans worth £18 million at showroom prices following a nine-month evaluation process.

The company went out to tender to a number of manufacturers and tested a variety of vans on the road before fleet bosses made their decision.

The Vauxhall Vivaro vans, in both long-wheelbase and short-wheelbase form, will be used by the company’s maintenance engineers around the UK to fulfil their property and building maintenance contracts.

They will be operated on a three-year/67,000 mile replacement cycle and are funded through ING Car Lease, with which the company has a solus funding arrangement for both its van and 350-strong car fleet.

Commercial vehicle conversion company Fleetshield has customised the vehicles with internal racking, roof racks and towbars.

Connaught fleet manager Mike Hill said the company’s reputation was a major factor in its decision.

He said: ‘Vauxhall won hands down and came out top in virtually every criteria, including wholelife costs, reliability, health and safety and NCAP ratings for their cars.

‘As an efficiency-driven contractor, we aim to provide uncompromising quality to our clients. And so delivery of a quality job, on time and on budget becomes the absolute bare minimum that our clients can expect.’

Maurice Howkins, Saab, Vauxhall and Chevrolet fleet sales director, said: ‘Connaught introduced a rigorous selection process before awarding the contract to Vauxhall, based on our market-leading wholelife costs, reliability safety and fleet support record and naturally we are delighted to be working with them.’