Fleet News Article: Northgate improves customer experience and drives fleet savings
The following article was published in Fleet News on 26 September and reproduced with their permission. Northgate Vehicle Hire | Fleet News | Open PDF.
Northgate Vehicle Hire’s ‘One Road’ initiative is allowing fleets to access a range of services from its sister companies through a single relationship.
Fleet News Hall of Famer Neil McCrossan was appointed managing director of Northgate UK and Ireland in March.
Taking the helm for Northgate’s fleet mobility businesses, McCrossan also became responsible for Northgate’s subsidiary businesses, Blakedale, FridgeXpress and ChargedEV.
He told Fleet News since becoming MD his priority has been creating a “one team approach” for the business.
He explained: “It’s allowed the business to breathe and expand, move on more easily and more quickly than would otherwise be the case.
“You’ve now one set of management making one decision for the businesses. It’s quickened up decision making. It’s allowed us to be more agile. It’s improved our customer service.”
A particular focus has been improving the levels of service through its workshops.
“It’s been a real area of focus,” said McCrossan (pictured below).
“We’ve increased the number of people we have in the workshops, improved the equipment they’re working with, improved the communication from workshops to the customers, and that’s really seeing our NPS (Net Promoter Score) and our Trustpilot score move on, because customers are noticing the difference.”
Northgate’s one team approach is being driven through its ‘customer first’ programme, which underpins everything the business does.
“The final piece of that jigsaw is what we call One Road – an initiative that allows all of our customers to access all of our services through a single relationship,” McCrossan added.
“Previously, for example, if you were a FridgeExpress customer, you might be renting your refrigerated vans from FridgeExpress, but if you wanted ordinary, standard vans through Northgate, you had to go and open a separate Northgate account and get a Northgate account director. It was crazy.
“Wherever the customer touches us now, they can access all of our vehicles, all of our services, through that single relationship.”
Fleet diversification and electrification
It’s an approach that led to Northgate offering cars to its corporate customers for the first time from July.
Called Northgate Cars, vehicles are offered on a seven-day plus hire basis to its van rental fleet customers. McCrossan stresses that its foray into cars does not mean it is becoming a direct rival to the Europcars and Enterprises of this world.
“You’ll never see us at an airport,” he said. “But it’s going very well and will keep growing for us for years to come.”
The move means it is also better able to utilise cars from its insurance replacement vehicle fleet business, Auxillis.
McCrossan continued: “We’ve got lots of products. We’ve got lots of customers. Let’s join it all together and deliver it effectively to the people who want it when they want.”
Northgate also recently launched a new micromobility line-up for fleets, offering a range of electric vehicles (EVs), including electric utility vehicles and e-cargo bikes.
The new offering was in response to what it describes as a growing need for emissions-free, flexible electric options to sit alongside more traditional commercial vehicles.
“It’s a growing piece of the market – I’m not going to pretend it’s a huge segment, but we think one day will be hundreds, if not 1,000s of vehicles,” said McCrossan.
On the subject of electrification, the penetration of zero-emission vans on its fleet remains small. Today, it is renting around 1,000 fully electric vans and McCrossan believes this will be nearer 2,000 units by the end of the year.
A key component in Northgate’s fleet electrification programme, Drive to Zero, is its telematics offering, which is helping fleets looking to transition to EVs.
The data captured by the system is used by Northgate to build an accurate picture of vehicle usage, from which a suitability report can be generated, before a robust transition programme is then implemented.
“It’s a very agnostic, neutral approach,” said McCrossan. “We’re not pushing the electric product. We’re saying you can have either, but for that stuff, that piece of your work, you absolutely could go electric without any detriment to how you’re operating or any increase in cost.
“In fact, there’s probably a saving in cost and that’s really gaining a lot of traction now, as people give us the information through the telematics devices.”
However, while fleets from the public sector, as well as energy, utility and charity sectors, have been accessing its electric product, McCrossan says that there is still a significant number of operators who are very sceptical about the technology.
“It will take some time and some evolution of the infrastructure and the residual values to see where that market goes,” he explained.
“I think for business like us, it’s about keeping your options open.
“What does the customer want? The customer wants our job to help them access it, educate them to an extent. If that doesn’t seem too pretentious.
“We know about this stuff, but it’s not about forcing it on the customer. The market will decide if it wants ICE vans electric vans or hydrogen vans. Our job is to make sure we are providing whatever it is the market wants.”
McCrossan believes that the one thing that would help enormously is clarity from Government on future powertrain policy.
Fuelcard customers make pump price savings
With operational efficiency and cost management more important than ever for the UK’s LCV fleets, Northgate has revealed its fuel card programme is saving fleets cash at the pumps.
It estimates an average saving of 9.7p per litre at the pumps over the past 12 months.
Accepted at more than 3,500 fuel stations across the UK, Northgate’s fuel card reporting allows users to track fleet fuel usage and expenses, consolidating a broad range of data into a single HMRC-compliant monthly invoice.
“We understand the financial pressures businesses face, and our goal is to offer innovative solutions that not only meet their operational needs but also deliver substantial cost savings,” said McCrossan.
“This impressive fuel saving is a testament to our commitment to providing exceptional value and support to our clients.”
