Hybrid working and customer convenience are driving demand for new ways of managing business travel, with employers wanting to cut emissions and reduce grey fleet use.
Enterprise Mobility believes car clubs can be part of the solution, enabling dedicated, on-site managed pool car provision, coupled with a publicly available virtual network and traditional daily rental.
Car clubs are a form of short-term vehicle rental, offering access to vehicles for as long as the user needs them, whether that is for 30 minutes or a day or more.
“When you work with a customer over a period of time on a real consultancy-type approach to understand how they travel, look at those journeys, you could replace a significant amount, if not all of that grey fleet with a multi-layered travel policy,” says Andy Bland, head of business rental development for the UK and Ireland at Enterprise Mobility.
“Part of that may be managed pool cars on site, part of that may be access to our virtual car club vehicles that are parked on the street and part of that will be traditional daily rental.
“The key to all of this is knitting it together with a very intuitive booking tool, because it’s all well and good having a travel policy that tells you what you should do, but unless you go into the file or pull it out of the drawer, you’re not going to know.”
For Enterprise Mobility, that intuitive tool is its Enterprise Travel Direct (ETD) booking and compliance management platform.
It allows employees to compare mobility options and find the most cost-effective and accessible mode of transport that complies with their company’s travel policy.
“All the employee has to do is say where they’re going that day and it will work out the best way for them to travel,” explains Bland. “That could be a daily rental vehicle, it could be the on-site managed pool car, it could be on-street, it may even be their own car that day.
“They don’t have to make that decision, the tool makes a decision for them, based on what we’ve agreed with the customer.”
And, if it is the employee’s own vehicle – the so-called grey fleet – the travel tool also takes care of the risk element, with employees needing to conduct business insurance, vehicle tax, tyres and mot checks before that trip happens.
“It puts the business back in control versus the traditional grey fleet (management) where it happens once a month when you submit your expenses,” adds Bland.
Deploying on-site car clubs or as Bland describes them, managed pool car fleets, is already paying dividends for a number of Enterprise customers.
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) has saved an estimated 372,000 miles with vehicle deliveries and collections in a single year after deploying almost 100 Enterprise Car Club vehicles at its premises.
One of the UK’s largest business car club fleets, the vehicles are based at three of DSTL’s locations in Wiltshire and Hampshire.
The significant cut in mileage resulted in a saving of more than 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions based on the business travel of an average diesel car.
Employees at the executive agency of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) can opt for public transport for their daily commute, while having access to vehicles at work for essential business travel, helping to reduce grey fleet travel.
The Highland Council also reported major benefits after introducing Enterprise Car Club to reduce its grey fleet use.
Savings of more than £400,000 were made by the council in the first 12 months of the initiative, representing a 15% reduction in overall business travel costs.
Bland believes a big opportunity for similar on-site car clubs is with organisations, particularly in the public sector, where they can have several underutilised pool car fleets, assigned to different departments.
He explains: “When you share that asset properly through technology, through the telematics, through the booking tool, that helps you delivers those savings.”
In terms of managing the grey fleet, however, Bland believes it can be a real challenge for fleet managers, because often it is the responsibility of finance or HR departments.
He says: “If you gave that to a fleet manager, I think grey fleet would be tackled far quicker, because they would look at it as an entire fleet and if you look at grey fleet as your own fleet, you make different decisions very quickly.”
Positive business outlook
Bland (pictured above) replaced Paul McCorkell as UK head of business rental development at Enterprise Mobility in April. Having joined the company as a graduate 20 years ago, he was most recently head of sales for southeast England and the London region.
His new role makes him responsible for car clubs, daily rental and the company’s Flex-E-Rent divisions in terms of business travel.
“Business is great,” he says. “There is a really strong outlook. We’re engaging more with our customers now than I think we ever have.
“Customers are very open to innovation, open to doing things differently. I think part of it is down to hybrid working, where you have to think differently.
“If you had a permanent company car before but you’re working from home two days a week, do you still need a company car? If you had an annual train pass, because you commute into the office every day, do you need that now?
“People are challenging every thought process and we’re going on that journey with them.”
Enterprise has developed a reputation for offering a customer-centric approach to developing its services. “Developing something without a customer at the core of it, is pointless,” says Bland.
“Customer led innovation has been in our business for years and years. It’s why Car Club exists in Enterprise today.”
Enterprise has more than 470 branches, 28 Flex-E-Rent specialist commercial vehicle depots and more than 1,500 Enterprise Car Club vehicles available 24/7 on-streets around the UK.
Fleet News award winner
Enterprise Mobility was crowned Rental Company of the Year title at this year’s Fleet News Awards – it’s seventh win in eight years.
A major contributing factor to its continuing success has been its investment in technology aimed at making business travel more efficient, while providing a great driver experience.
It has been piloting connected cars/vans with real-time data capture to ensure accurate, right-first-time billing and preventative maintenance, with a goal to have all vehicles connected by 2026 globally.
Dedicated claims management technology also enables communication and collaboration between fleets, repairers, insurers and other supply chain stakeholders.
Its ability to adapt has also been reflected in new corporate branding, with the business becoming Enterprise Mobility last year.
The company’s long-term strategy is to facilitate access to EVs, encouraging trial and uptake.
Over the past 12 months, from April 2023 to April 2024, Enterprise grew its overall EV fleet by almost 50% in the UK.
Most of its UK company car drivers drive battery electric vehicles (BEVs), enabling it to draw on its own experience to support its customers.
It also provides consultancy on adoption and transition, identifying suitable drivers for an EV rental, such as those waiting for an electric company car, and helping businesses identify where journeys can be switched.
Bland explains: “We want to be able to walk into a customer meeting and understand what they’re talking about, and actually help and add to the conversation.
“We want to genuinely give a consultative approach to help them achieve what they’re trying to achieve.”
Award Sponsor comments: Grosvenor Leasing
Lee Brown, managing director of Grosvenor Leasing, said: “We’re delighted to have sponsored the ‘Rental Company of the Year’ award for the eighth time. We would like to extend our congratulations to Enterprise Mobility for winning this extremely competitive category.
“The diverse range of businesses, vehicles and innovative solutions showcased at the Fleet News awards reflects the pace of change within our sector.
“With over 40 years expertise in the fleet sector, the Grosvenor Group is proud to be at the forefront of that change and we have seen rapid growth of our risk-free EV salary sacrifice scheme and launched EValuate – a service that offers businesses the chance to trial zero emission motoring by offering used electric vehicles over flexible lease periods.
“Our all-encompassing proposition which includes contract hire, EV salary sacrifice, specialist fleet management and personal leasing is supported by a leading fleet management system and App, and we continue to drive down costs for our customers.”
Judges’ comments:
Enterprise has the most comprehensive service of any rental company with a bespoke and highly adaptable service offering underpinning its customer-first focus. It has enjoyed significant growth with corporate customers while maintaining an excellent retention rate. Heavy investment in technology is further improving its customer services, with judges highlighting its partial waiver scheme, bike rental service and rural mobility solutions, including its extensive car club.