Gilgen, which provides automatic and industrial door solutions throughout the UK, runs a fleet of 75 service vans and 43 company cars operated on four-year/100,000-mile contract hire with maintenance agreements.
With expansion over the coming year set to trigger a 25% increase in the number of vans operated and a 10-15% rise in company cars, the company was looking to appoint a partner to reduce its fleet administration burden and operating costs and deliver an improved choice of vehicles.
After a detailed operational review alongside an analysis of the range of light commercial vehicles available taking into account whole-life costs, Gilgen chose to switch to an all Volkswagen fleet of Crafter and Transporter models from a mixed-badge solution.
The first 20 Volkswagen Transporter models delivered by Ogilvie Fleet are now in use with some replacing existing vans and others additional assets to the growing fleet.
Bespoke internal conversion work on the vans was undertaken by specialist provider Bott. The van specification includes: work top units, specialist shelving, heated hand wash units and power inverters avoiding the requirement for engineers’ tools to be plugged into the vehicle’s battery.
Ogilive Fleet is also providing a range of additional services including accident management and driver risk management featuring licence checking and driver support. Furthermore, it has also taken over management of the legacy Gilgen fleet of leased company cars and vans.
Meanwhile, Gilgen with assistance from Ogilvie Fleet is targeting accreditation to the Freight Transport Association’s Van Excellence initiative.
Gilgen Door Systems UK operations director Chris Windust said: “Working in partnership with Ogilvie Fleet we are establishing an industry-leading fleet policy that delivers reliable and robust support to drivers whilst also reducing cost and alleviating day-to-day administration.”
