Fleet News Awards 2010: Fleet Supplier of the Year

Nationwide Autocentres has been named Fleet Supplier of the Year in the 2010 Fleet News awards.

Nationwide Autocentres offers national independent vehicle servicing, MoTs and maintenance covering all vehicles from all car and van manufacturers. It offers this at lower costs than franchised dealers, which has helped attract the custom of the majority of the FN50 companies.

Its attraction is clear – lower costs, local centres (223 with plans for another 200 under the new ownership of Halfords) and short lead-in times. Its typical lead-in time for fleets is three days, but it will often provide next-day or even same-day services where possible.

For Lex Autolease customers it introduced next-day servicing last year after initial successful trials in 2008. Lex Autolease fleets can now benefit from a 24-hour turnaround of vehicles that need scheduled service or MoTs. Nationwide will wash and vacuum the car and will also collect and deliver them back to fleet customers if they are within 10 miles of one of its centres.

Last year it carried out 175,000 fleet jobs worth in excess of £22m. Despite this high volume of work, it often exceeded the CSI ratings of its franchised dealer competitors.
In 2009, Nationwide developed its ‘duty of care’ solution – a 19-point vehicle inspection that provides an audit trail of inspections should evidence of vehicle maintenance be needed. The company also introduced workshops to address any CSI feedback that indicated improvements could be made. The company says it has not lost any fleet business for two years.

Judges’ comments
"The judges were locked in discussions for close to an hour before they were able to separate three outstanding companies. In the end, the fact that
Nationwide Autocentres has gone the extra mile in its fleet services, including next-day and same-day servicing, and invested heavily in training, saw it take the top award."

Auto Windscreens was highly commended.

Shortlist