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Hardy tells us Ogilvie Fleet has seen a steady year of growth, as they are starting to see the back of a difficult couple of years for the industry. He says: "We have seen our customers make changes to their own businesses to negate the impacts of the crisis and we have looked to support these as much as possible.
"The biggest implication for us (and our clients) has been the ongoing increases in interest rates. That, combined with the ongoing increases in vehicle capital costs and residual values starting to return to normal monthly depreciation levels has kept us on our toes, to say the least. More than I can ever recall, we've been challenged by our clients to look at ways we can help reduce their fleet costs. We don't have a magic wand unfortunately, but we have been able to help mitigate some of the increases through better data analysis and appropriate recommendations on how to reduce overall fleet operating costs...if not the direct lease costs.
"All of that has kept our incredible team of area managers, development managers and customer service teams busier than ever and despite the challenges around, we've once again seen really healthy fleet growth. That's testament to the hard work of every single person at Ogilvie Fleet and I consider myself incredibly lucky to be a part of what has to be the best team of people in Fleet in the UK.
"We've also seen really positive growth in other areas of the business too. For example, our salary sacrifice division which has seen drivers look to save on both BIK and fuel costs with a switch to EV and our Daily Rental team have seen enormous growth in volumes as clients have looked increasingly to operate on more of a "just-in-time" approach to some of their fleet usage".
Hardy also mentions: "The growth in these divisions is reflected in our recruitment drive this year for new team members. Vehicle availability has been an issue for the rental industry for the last couple of years, but our team has found innovative ways to provide short-term hire vehicles of all shapes and sizes for our customers.
"Our salary sacrifice team has doubled in size this year, with a 40% growth in head count for the daily rental division. The wider business has seen our numbers grow by more than 10% including an expansion of our customer service teams in Sheffield and Stirling."
Despite the challenging market conditions, Hardy goes on to tell us that Ogilvie Fleet's commitment to innovation hasn't slowed this year as their teams across the business look to improve processes and customer experience for their clients and drivers alike. He says: "Many of our innovations have happened behind the scenes, but these will make for more streamlined processes to support our customers.
"We have also worked hard on providing drivers with accessible data through MiNextEV, the Happy Drivers app and MiQuotes to help them make informed decisions. However, we are probably most proud of our lead time generator tool, which we believe to be an industry first. It uses historic and live vehicle order data to accurately predict vehicle lead times. This data has proved invaluable for our customer service teams in helping drivers select new vehicles."
The ongoing commitment to innovation, means that 2024 will see Ogilvie's digital team continuing to develop the Happy Drivers mobile app with some plans in the pipeline that will further improve the driver experience. He says: "We are also working on a digital onboarding process for new customers which will allow drivers to quickly and smoothly choose a new vehicle and get up to speed with how Ogilvie will be supporting their journey with us."
According to Hardy, innovation and customer service has been their focus for 15 years and is something everyone buys into throughout the business. He says: "We continue to invest in technology and innovate new ways of working, often ahead of our larger competitors in the industry.
"We believe our customer service is unmatched and our record of winning awards backs this up. Each of our clients gets a dedicated account manager, customer service executive and administration team who understand the customer and recognise that each account is unique. We don't provide an off-the-shelf solution, rather a bespoke set of services designed to maximise value and efficiency of every fleet.
"Some of our customers like to self-manage using our digital tools while others prefer the traditional face-to-face account management - hence why our blend of customer service and innovation has been so successful."
He goes on to tell us that every award they win is celebrated throughout the business and despite winning at the 2023 Business Car Awards, they won't rest on their laurels in 2024. He says: "The judges' comments are always useful to see where we have performed well and are used alongside customer feedback to ensure we are constantly developing to meet the needs of an industry that has gone through some incredible challenges over the past five years.
"We will continue to innovate, expand our teams and deliver exceptional, industry-leading customer service."
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