River Island says it is benefitting from Venson’s focus on delivering customer service excellence and value for money.

The 14-year partnership between River Island and Venson has flourished after the vehicle leasing and fleet management company won a rigorous three-way tender.

It is responsible for vehicle procurement and disposal, day-to-day fleet management and pay-on-use vehicle maintenance for the company’s 250-strong outright purchased company car fleet and six light commercial vehicles.

Historically, River Island undertook the procurement process in-house, but has now outsourced it to Venson. Jasbir Mahey, deputy fleet manager for River Island, explained: “Outsourcing to Venson has enabled internal resources to be released, but our contract terms ensure that there is complete expenditure transparency via a consolidated monthly invoice.

“We have total confidence that Venson is looking after our money as if it was its own. Our service charges have barely increased over the past few years, while we continue to receive fantastic service.

“We are absolutely thrilled at the relationship we have with Venson. We believe the level of service we receive is the best.”

In addition, River Island says it benefits from Venson’s bespoke duty of care solution, Venson Safeguard and its in-house accident management service.

Venson Safeguard is a five-point action plan that embraces employee driving licence validation, documentation checks relating to privately-owned vehicles driven on business, driver risk assessment, driver training and total legislative compliance.

The accident management service includes a 24x7 driver hotline, roadside recovery and claims management, as well as a mobile body shop for smaller repairs. River Island also gains access to pro-active risk management through detailed reporting and analysis.

Mahey said: “Vehicle downtime is costly to all fleets. It is therefore essential that the whole accident process from first notification to the vehicle being returned to the road is tightly managed, a role I believe Venson is excellent at performing.

“Any issue that arises is managed to its conclusion by the Venson account management team dedicated to managing the River Island fleet. No issues have to be explained, it is in reality an extension of our internal fleet department with service consistency ensured.”

Simon Staton, director of client management at Venson, concluded: “River Island is well known for its standout and affordable fashions and it wanted a fleet management partner that could deliver the same service excellence and added value.

“Venson has become a seamless part of River Island’s fleet management process, allowing the company to restructure in-house resources to maximise its own business efficiency and outsource a wide range of processes and logistics to us.

“By focusing on long-term partnerships, Venson can become an effective part of the fleet team in any business looking for a tailored fleet solution that helps them to boost efficiency and manage costs.”