Gala Coral Group, which runs a 417-strong company car fleet and 180 cash allowance cars, has now reappointed Fleet Alliance for an additional two-years with a further one year option, to follow on from the contract it first awarded in April 2010.

During that time, Fleet Alliance has been able to introduce a number of fleet efficiencies and cost saving initiatives, including competitive tendering, as well as improving the service offering to company car drivers.

At the same time, Fleet Alliance has reduced the carbon footprint of the Gala Coral fleet from an average of 160g/km per vehicle to 118g/km today, and has rationalised the number of manufacturers supplying the fleet to the Volkswagen Audi Group and BMW.

Another key change has been a switch to a competitive tendering approach for each new car added to the fleet, using a panel of three different funders, to indentify the most cost-effective funding option.

In addition, Gala Coral drivers are now able to select and identify their next company car online through Fleet Alliance’s e-fleet fleet management platform, which also captures and records their business mileages to ensure there are no contract over-runs.  

Philip Corbett, senior purchasing manager at Gala Coral, said that one of the key reasons for re-appointing Fleet Alliance was the flexibility the company offered and the detailed knowledge and experience it had built up during its term as manager of the Gala fleet.

‘Fleet Alliance understands the running of our fleet and its various nuances very well. Effectively they function as an extension of our HR and procurement teams, running quietly away in the background.

‘They have proved very nimble and responsive to our requirements and, through the use of the e-fleet platform, have introduced very effective mileage management which is of great benefit for the company going forward as it avoids expensive end-of-contract mileage charges.

‘At the same time, they have been thoroughly committed to effectively managing costs on our behalf. For example, they have been able to set up commission rebates  for third party services such as daily rental, windscreens and delivery and storage, whilst also driving down our monthly finance rates across the board,’ he said.

‘We are very much looking forward to the next period under their management of our group fleet,’ he added.