Citroën was the big winner at the inaugural Fleet Van Awards which took place on Tuesday night – clinching three titles, including the Van of the Year award.

The ceremony, held in Birmingham after the Fleet Van Conference, saw Citroën presented with the City Van Award for the Nemo and Small Van and Van of the Year titles for the Berlingo.

Trevor Gelken, editor of Fleet Van, said: “The Berlingo is completely new, offers facilities the others can’t match, has good green credentials and, as a fleet package, the judges decided it was altogether unbeatable.”

Elsewhere, Ford was named Van Manufacturer of the Year – a unanimous decision from the judges who recognised that, although Ford didn’t win an outright award in the various van sectors, the blue oval was consistently mentioned in dispatches.

The judges believed that if a fleet manager was to recommend a solid supplier for any fleet, then it had to be Ford thanks to its model range, cost, reliability,
aftersales back-up and parts availability.

Royal Mail was named Van Fleet of the Year and BT Fleet won the Fleet Management Company of the Year award.
The event included seven vehicle awards, eight supplier categories and five awards for fleet managers recognising excellence in their sectors.

THE WINNERS

City Van
Winner: Citroën Nemo
Highly commended: Vauxhall Corsavan

Small Van
Winner: Citroën Berlingo
Highly commended: Ford Transit Connect

Medium Van
Winner: Volkswagen Transporter
Highly commended: Ford Transit, Mercedes-Benz Vito

Large Van
Winner: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
Highly commended: Ford Transit

Pick-up
Winner: Toyota Hilux
Highly commended: Mitsubishi L200

Van of the Year
Winner: Citroën Berlingo

Van Manufacturer of the Year
Winner: Ford

Leasing Company of the Year
Winner: Lloyds TSB Autolease
Highly commended: Lombard Vehicle Management

Van Rental Company of the Year
Winner: Northgate Vehicle Hire
Highly commended: Europcar

Tyre Provider of the Year
Winner: Continental Tyre Group
Highly commended: Michelin

Fuel Provider of the Year
Winner: Arval
Highly commended: Shell

Van Fleet Safety Award
Winner: Fleet Support Group
Highly commended: Interactive Driving Systems for BT

Specialist Equipment Service of the Year
Winner: Modul-system
Highly commended: Bott

Technology Provider of the Year
Winner: Trafficmaster
Highly commended: Eagle-i Telematics

Fleet Management Company of the Year
Winner: BT Fleet
Highly commended: Venson Automotive Solutions

Van Fleet Manager of the Year – Utilities
Winner: Christopher Pascall, head of transport, EDF Energy
Highly commended: Jon York, fleet operations manager, British Gas

Van Fleet Manager of the Year – Delivery/Logistics
Winner: Dino Papas, fleet manager, Tesco.com
Highly commended: Paul Gatti, head of commercial fleet, Royal Mail

Van Fleet Manager of the Year – Public Sector
Winner: Graham Telfer, fleet manager, Gateshead Council
Highly commended: Chris Rutherford, fleet and depot manager, London Borough of Islington

Van Fleet Manager of the Year – Business
Winner: Nicky Simpson, service director, fleet management solutions, Amey
Highly commended: Mike Brown, fleet director, Balfour Beatty Plant & Fleet Services

Van Fleet of the Year
Winner: Royal Mail
Highly commended: EDF Energy

  • Conference coverage: coming soon