The Highland Council has reduced its annual business mileage by more than 825,000 and made cost savings in excess of £400,000 in the first 12 months, since they started working with the Enterprise Car Club.

Via pre-installed Enterprise Car Club technology, employees then have the ability to book the council’s own pool cars online, or via a mobile app

This drop represents a 15% reduction in overall business travel costs, with the council’s grey fleet mileage reduced by nearly a quarter (22%) and its total mileage dropping by 13%.

So, how did they achieve these savings? Well, the council now rely on a fleet of 60 Enterprise Car Club Vehicles, which are located across the 21 Highland Council offices. These are available for booking on an hour by hour basis by employees who my have previously chosen to use their own private car, then claiming back the mileage. These vehicles have also been seen as a viable alternative and efficient alternative to daily rental.

The Enterprise fleet is made up of plug-in and full-electric models, with five Nissan LEAFs specifically placed at Council offices in Inverness, Golspie and Fort William, where average journey lengths are often shorter and electric vehicles (EVs) offer the most viable and sustainable option.

The Council, which covers a large area of Northern Scotland is roughly the size of Belgium. It found that many of its 10,000 employees travel great distances for business, going to and around 700 local offices, schools and depots, delivering essential local services.

Before Enterprise came on board, its yearly grey fleet mileage amounted to more than six million, at a cost of more than £2.2 million. Enterprise worked with the Council to analyse employee mileage in detail to identify why, how, when and where trips were taking place. Then worked out if alternative options were suitable, and if they were, which sites it would be sensible to have dedicated car club vehicles located.

An employee communications programme, giving clear information on how to make better travel choices has been a significant factor in the success of this club. The next development being the generation of automated emails, to notify when employees could be utilising vehicles more efficiently.

Considering the success of this club and the savings achieved, the Council is planning on increasing its car club fleet to 80 vehicles by the end of this year. In addition, the Council is

rolling-out an improved ICT infrastructure to encourage video conferencing and is focusing on shared and public transport for service delivery where practical.

Speaking of the Highland Council’s success, Diane Mulholland, General Manager for Scotland/Northern Ireland at Enterprise, said: “The Highland Council has developed a sophisticated programme that encourages employees to avoid journeys if they can, and to use the most cost-effective and sustainable option if the trip is unavoidable. It’s also monitored and adjusted on a day-to-day basis to keep it as efficient as possible. The impact on air quality and congestion could be significant if all organisations reduced their road travel emissions by 19% and their business mileage by 13%, as the Highland Council has managed to achieve.”