Industrial Maintenance Services Ltd (IMS), of Voyager Park, Portsmouth, has purchased 12 new Renault vans – comprising seven Renault Kangoos and five Renault Trafics – to transport its fleet of engineers across the country, with support from Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance.
IMS specialises in the installation and maintenance of mechanical and electrical infrastructure, plant and machinery, and the refurbishment of commercial and industrial facilities.
The £150,000 investment was supported by a hire purchase facility, which allows the cost of the vans to be spread over their working life and paid for out of the revenue they earn.
IMS, which aims to double in size in five years by continuing to grow its share of the market, is predicting revenues of over £4m for 2015, up from £3m last year.
It has 35 staff and customers include BAE Systems, Serco, Sodexo, the MoD, the Royal Navy and Trinity House Lighthouse Service.
Operations director Pete Fry said: “Some of our vans were over eight years old. We kept the vehicles going through the recession but now that business has picked up again, it is the right time to invest in replacing the fleet.
“We were spending upwards of £1,000 a month maintaining the old vans, so the new vehicles will remove that cost and they will also be much more reliable and fuel efficient.
“The newly liveried vans also look very smart out on the road, helping improve the company’s image.
“Buying the vehicles on hire purchase helps us to maintain a strong cash flow at a time when we are going through a period of growth.
“Interest rates are also pretty low at the moment so it is a relatively cheap way to fund the investment. Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance made the transaction very quick and straightforward.”
The vans were supplied by Seward Group, of Bilton Way, Portsmouth.
