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Neil was keen to point out that the pandemic was 'business as usual' for Northgate, as not only did demand for their products and services remain constant throughout, but they were also fully committed to serving the many key workers and businesses which kept Britain running during that time. "We invested heavily in our communications systems, to ensure that we were able to speak to our customers in a way that suited them," he says. "Whether via telephone, email or video calling, Northgate remained available.
"When it comes to the chip shortage, while this has placed additional challenges on the entire industry, as Northgate has always had a policy of keeping vehicles in stock rather than employing a buy-to-order policy, our customers have always had the ability to select the vehicles that they need, when they need them," McCrossan continued.
According to McCrossan, Northgate has evolved over the last two years to offer a full suite of vehicle fleet solutions. "Above and beyond our short, long-term and flexible rental packages, we now offer a range of different packages to suit all business needs," he says. "From vehicle acquisition and disposal, to risk and compliance management, driver training, fleet management, telematics solutions and even fuel cards, Northgate is the ideal mobility partner for businesses of all sizes.
"We recognise that electrification may seem a daunting challenge for many fleets, so we launched Drive to Zero, our fleet electrification program to make this as simple as possible for businesses." McCrossan states. "In covering all aspects of the electrification process, from fleet analysis to the temporary loan of eLCVs for acclimatisation purposes and even taking on the specialist charging infrastructure provider, ChargedEV as part of the Redde Northgate group of companies, to provide for the infrastructure needs of our customers, Northgate is ready to help its fleets evolve."
While Northgate recognised that, although face-to-face interactions were not entirely avoidable during lockdowns, they could adapt their processes to minimise physical touchpoints. "We developed our vehicle inspection app as a result, removing the need for physical checklists and saving our customers time and hassle in the process," McCrossan says. "Inspections can now be completed in a matter of minutes, with results submitted in real time. Photos of the vehicles can be taken and uploaded via the app, while drivers and suppliers can be notified of any requirements via notifications and managers can be reassured that they are meeting Van Excellence, FORS and HSE compliance standards."
Northgate continues to evolve its products and services in line with the ever-changing and growing needs of its customers. "On top of our purchase of ChargedEV to bring their infrastructure expertise in-house, Northgate recently acquired the traffic management experts, Blakedale, to better serve our growing customers in this area, while allowing our wider customer base to benefit from Blakedale's specialist bodybuilding capabilities. We will continue to grow and expand our product range and service capabilities in line with the needs of the businesses we support," he assures.
McCrossan believes Northgate's flexibility makes it stand out against the opposition. "We offer a wide range of vehicles as standard, and any type of vehicle on request," he says. "Vehicles can be customised and branded to an exact specification, and as we have our own nationwide network of semi cap specialists, we can not only provide vehicles to meet exacting needs, but all costs can be included in a single contract.
"Existing customers can add additional vehicles to their contracts on either a short or medium-term basis, and a change of vehicles is allowed within our long-term contract terms without a penalty, so no business is ever stuck with a vehicle that is unfit for purpose. Above all, Northgate offers a comprehensive range of support for SMEs, with a wide range of solutions to meet the diverse needs of our business customers."
McCrossan tells me that it was an honour to be able to walk away with this year's Editor's Choice award at the 2022 Business Car Awards, saying: "To be recognised in such a way for the services we provide across our 50,000-strong fleet of vehicles is a great recognition of the efforts that we have put in, and will continue to put in, to evolving our offering for the benefit of our customers.
"We will continue to put our customers at the heart of our business and to support the diverse range of businesses we serve, even during challenging times for the industry, providing innovative vehicle solutions, great value and excellent customer service."
Call 0344 947 1710 or visit www.northgatevehiclehire.co.uk
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