Emtec Group has purchased 20 Mercedes-Benz Vito panel vans from Western Commercial.

The construction and building services contractor now has a fleet of more than 130 vehicles.

The new vans have been allocated to mobile service engineers, who provide a range of facility services including electrical, heating, plumbing and air-conditioning maintenance for owners of commercial buildings across a wide range of business sectors.

Most of the vehicles are 1.6-litre Vito 111 CDIs, although the line-up also includes four 2.1-litre 114 CDIs.

The vans are the subject of Daimler Fleet Management contract hire agreements. Emtec Group also opted for cost-effective Service Care plans.

Alan McCabe, Emtec Group director, said: “We’d been relying on hired vehicles to meet steadily increasing demand. However, when it became clear that the growth we were experiencing was set to continue, we decided to expand our owned fleet.”

Emtec had previously chosen vehicles from other manufacturers but McCabe admitted to being pleasantly surprised by the value for money that the company has secured this time.

“The Vito is a great vehicle for our application and clearly built to a very high standard. Features like the sliding side doors on both sides, the very high level of standard safety equipment, the comfortable cab, and the car-like driving dynamics all mean that these new vans have been an instant hit with our engineers,” McCabe added.