Holdcroft group fleet sales director Malcolm Pearson, centre, with Sophie Raworth and Fleet News editor Stephen Briers

 

Holdcroft impressed the judges by taking the strategic decision to allow its fleet business to stand alone, away from the group’s retail dealerships.

The business has a dedicated pre-delivery inspection and fleet centre in Stoke-on-Trent, managed by group fleet sales director Malcolm Pearson.

	Best Fleet Dealership

The site has workshops, offices, fleet-focused IT systems, dedicated technicians, valeters and its own transporters and staff drivers. All delivery drivers wear Holdcroft fleet uniforms, with their name on all shirts, jumpers and jackets to help improve the handover process.

By controlling the whole supply chain, Holdcroft can offer its customers a full portfolio of fleet-focused services, which has led to a fleet customer retention rate of 100%.

Despite increasing the size of the team and salaries in 2013, the business managed to reduce costs by 44% during 2013 through smarter route planning for deliveries. Holdcroft reduced average mileage per delivery by 10% from 91 miles to 82 miles over several thousand deliveries.

The centre is not measured on profit, with the only focus on the customer. The judges were impressed with Holdcroft’s small dedicated team, which is able to concentrate on fleet without the distraction of other dealership-related issues. The team focuses on local businesses, including deals with Boots, George Birchall, the Ministry of Defence, Fosse Europe, Valspar and Costain.

Satisfaction levels have increased over the past year, up from 83.25% to 97.5% for Lex Autolease and from 82% to 94% for LeasePlan.

Holdcroft has looked at its processes from the top down and improved its delivery standards. This methodology has driven the structure of the business from the perspective of fleet customers allowing it to punch above its weight in the fleet sector within the AM100.

Highly commended: Minstergate Hull

Also shortlisted: Norton Way Corporate Sales; Slough Audi

Previous winners: New category

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