The newly-formed Fleet Industry Advisory Group (FIAG) will host a workshop on fleet vehicle procurement and purchasing best practice on May 21 at the Arnold Clark Group’s GTG Training Academy, Bearing Drive, Wolverhampton.

FIAG is the brainchild of industry veteran Geoffrey Bray (pictured) and a team of highly experienced professional fleet managers who collectively have around 200 years experience in running vehicle operations.

A members’ recruitment drive is underway with FIAG charging a special introductory annual subscription of £350. Members are then able to benefit from the launch workshop, future similar events, as well as white papers on key industry issues and free-of-charge advice and mentoring.

Additionally, FIAG, a not-for-profit organisation, plans to make an annual donation to Hope for Tomorrow, a national charity dedicated to bringing cancer treatment closer to patients’ homes by providing a mobile chemotherapy unit to every oncology unit within the UK.

FIAG chairman Bray said: “FIAG has been created by highly knowledgeable professional fleet managers to enhance the knowledge, capability and skills of other industry professionals.

“Through FIAG fleet managers are sharing their many years of experience to further professionalise the industry to which they have dedicated many years of their lives.

“Invariably there is no right or wrong way or single formula to tackling a fleet issue, but through networking, communication and a hugely knowledgeable base of founder members best practice can be shared and adopted more widely.”

“The goal for every professional fleet manager should be to implement a sustainable performance programme in all areas of managing the driver, vehicle and journey.”

Fleet decision-makers that are founding members of FIAG include:

• Graham Bellman, director of fleet services, Travis Perkins, with responsibility for a fleet of more than 4,500 vehicles and about 4,000 items of plant.
• Ian Houseley, health, safety, environment and quality director at The Clancy Group and responsible for driver risk management and training for a fleet of more than 1,500 vehicles.
• Justin Patterson, head of fleet management at MITIE Group, with more than 25 years fleet experience, is responsible for more than 7,500 vehicles across the UK and Europe.
• Ged Raymond, fleet manager of Belron, with more than 35 years industry experience and responsible for the 1,500-strong Autoglass fleet.
• Freddie Watts, fleet and transport contracts manager at Office Depot with more than 25 years fleet experience.
• Peter Weston, in charge of the Home Retail Group fleet of around 1,300 company cars.

To join FIAG and book a place at the launch workshop focusing ‘Experience - Driving Change’ click here.