Ishida Europe, a supplier of automated solutions to the food industry, has appointed vehicle funding and fleet management specialist Fleet Alliance to manage its UK car fleet.

The company designs, manufactures and installs multi-head weighing machines and complete weighing and packing line solutions.

From its European headquarters in Birmingham, Ishida Europe currently runs 100 company cars in the UK took the decision to switch fleet suppliers after prices became uncompetitive.

Sue Jeavons, payroll and benefits specialist at Ishida Europe, who is responsible for the company car fleet, said: "Although it is still relatively early days yet, we have been very pleased with the experience of working with Fleet Alliance. "

Ishida Europe currently operates an open badge policy up to a maximum monthly rental for each job grade.

As a result of the free choice policy, German makes are popular on the fleet, primarily Audi and BMW, along with Mazda and Volvo models, principally diesels with a smattering of petrol engined cars and a small number of hybrids.

The cars are available to qualifying staff including service engineers, project engineers and sales staff, along with middle to senior managers, and general managers and directors.

To increase support levels for Ishida drivers, a new dedicated driver portal is being introduced to allow drivers to view online all the models that are available on the company choice list for their particular job grade, to request quotations for their next new vehicle and to order new vehicles online.