Located at Harrow Council’s main depot, the joint venture provides Class IV, V and VII MOT testing and enables Fraikin to eliminate third-party MOT testing costs for the council’s diverse fleet of more than 200 assets, which Fraikin supplies and manages on a contract hire basis.
The facility also means Fraikin can conduct MoTs on Harrow’s fleet outside of regular operating hours, meaning no vehicle has to suffer operational downtime to get tested. The move is a first for Fraikin and sets a new standard for fleet management.
The centre is also benefiting local businesses in an area where there is currently a shortage of suitable facilities in the vicinity for minibus and van MOTs. The new testing facility also offers online booking, making it easy to schedule a vehicle test.
And because the centre is operated by Fraikin’s team of skilled technicians, residents will be able to get government-level service on their own vehicles.
Venetia Reid-Baptiste, divisional director, Harrow Council, said: “We’ve worked with Fraikin because it has always been much more than just another contract hire company – it’s an integral part of managing our services to the community. This time it has really gone the extra mile because by setting up this new MOT centre, it’s not just saving us money and downtime, it’s creating an entirely new revenue stream for us that will help save taxpayer money in the borough.”
The partnership between Harrow Council and Fraikin has already seen the commercial vehicle fleet services company reduce operating costs by 10% in the last year through fleet reprofiling, without compromising on 100% next-day vehicle availability or an average breakdown response time of 20 minutes.
