The Background

Farécla Products supply Automotive and Marine Industrial compounds to the motor and marine trades with a company history dating back to 1934. During the ensuing years, the company’s activities have all related to the automotive trade and have included car repairs, the production of parts for major car manufacturers, the manufacture of car accessories such as seat covers, radiator blinds etc, and car dealerships.

In 1953 the first Farécla products were launched in the UK and in 1954 Farécla started exporting to Finland, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Since then the company’s sales have grown steadily in the UK as well as internationally and today Farécla products are distributed across all 5 continents to more than 100 countries via a network of 52 International Business Partners.

The Challenge

Although a relatively small fleet by industry standards a perceived lack of ‘ownership’ of Farécla’s internal fleet administration coupled with a lack of fleet knowledge by any individual meant a wide range of providers had been allowed to come into being over a period of time.
This resulted in very little supplier loyalty or account representation while this diluted approach further meant that when a helping hand was required incumbent suppliers were either unwilling or unable to offer assistance.
When Marshall Leasing contacted Farécla some seven years ago Company Secretary Yvonne Nice sensed a new approach and agreed to take up Marshall’s offer of a meeting.

Yvonne explained “When fleet administration was added to my task list some 7 or 8 years ago we had a mixture of owned and leased vehicles from a variety of suppliers. We made the decision to move towards a fully-leased fleet from one supplier and MLL was among several companies to whom we spoke.’

The Experience

‘I immediately liked the ethos of the company and what they could offer us, even though we are a small player in the fleet market. From being a major headache, fleet admin’ became one of the easier parts of my job. There were no empty promises; the dedicated, friendly and knowledgeable people at the end of the phone react as quickly today to our requests for help and advice as they did back then. I feel we have built up a very positive business relationship with the
MLL team; if only we could say the same of all our professional partners.’

Marshall involvement has gone beyond simply the provision of Farécla’s company cars; as recognition of Farécla’s loyalty Marshall offered to fund a thorough driver licence audit to ensure employees were driving legally, thus saving the company an appreciable amount of administration and possible exposure.

The Background

DTZ are one of the UK’s top 3 chartered surveyors currently operating a fleet in excess of 500 vehicles on a predominantly user-chooser basis. A proportion of the fleet are cash option drivers but the majority is funded via a traditional contract hire route.

The Challenge

In 2001 Liz Hollands, DTZ FleetManager and now currently an ACFO (Association of Car Fleet Operators) Director was making exclusive use of one of the UK’s major contract hire players. Liz had a concern that an ‘all eggs in one basket’ approach was not the most desirable for her fleet at that time and in seeking a reliable and trustworthy second supplier began speaking with Marshall Leasing.
Liz saw in Marshall a genuinely alternative source of supply both in the philosophy and ethos of that supplier as much as in their comparatively modest size compared to the incumbent. They also provided a useful ‘back stop’ should the relationship with the original supplier degrade in any way.

The Experience

As the relationship matured Liz came to see that not only was the smaller provider capable of offering competitive monthly rentals but their ability to respond promptly to any challenge or request gave them an undoubted edge over their larger competitor. Indeed whilst it was fundamental to insist on a formal SLA with the latter Liz saw no need for any such agreement with Marshall Leasing; their administration and management structure allowed for first name relationships with all department heads to be cultivated whilst an open and ‘can do’ culture effectively made an SLA a redundant proposition.

Whilst the business share remains a healthy 50/50 flux between suppliers (based on comparing quoted rates) a recent DTZ investigation suggested that when viewed on a whole life cost basis Marshall, as the smaller provider, actually represented better value for money.