SEGRO (formerly Slough Estates) is a property investment and development company focused on the provision of flexible business space throughout Europe. Headquartered in the UK, SEGRO plc has a listing on the London Stock Exchange and on the Euronext in Paris. The Company serves a diversified base of around 1,700 customers, operating across a wide range of sectors and representing both small and large businesses, from start ups to global corporations. With property assets of £4.8 billion and 5.1 million sq m of business space, SEGRO has an annual rent roll of approximately £314 million.

Up until 2003 SEGRO had used the services of a major pan-European contract hire provider. This was a business relationship that had promised much, providing reassurance in terms of perceived financial strength/international presence (which suited SEGRO’s own business profile) and the relatively unusual feature of the provider being a geographical neighbour (a situation that suggested an efficient account management regime would not be difficult to maintain.)
Despite this SEGRO soon came to realize that going forward not only was account management poor but incidental costs not associated with actual vehicle rentals were combining to produce a package that was at a financial variance from their supplier’s original offering. Such was the disillusionment thus engendered that a decision was made to revert to the purchase of vehicles.
It soon became clear to SEGRO that whilst their business possessed a depth of expertise within property and investment sectors they clearly were not experts in the procurement of vehicles and the efficient and economical management of a vehicle fleet.
The challenge remained for SEGRO to find a third-party which, whilst possessing the above skills and expertise, would also not replicate the disappointments and poor service experienced before.

It was at this point that Marshall Leasing presented its case, initially winning the chance to provide SEGRO with an outsourced fleet management service. The change in both the style of account management coupled with the management ethos at Marshall was soon able to provide SEGRO with the confidence to also place the procurement of their fleet into their new supplier’s hands.
Part of the Marshall approach was to be pro-active and in a climate (2006) where even greater stress was being placed on the employer’s duty of care Marshall Leasing was able to introduce Driver License Checking for the entire SEGRO fleet, and for any fleet driver’s spouses and family members who had access to the company vehicle.

As SEGRO’s confidence in their new business partner grew they passed the disposal of vehicles over to Marshall enjoying cost-free advice and assistance in the improvement of their written car fleet policy.
By the time 2008 had come around SEGRO was sufficiently reassured as to the long-term aims of Marshall Leasing that they decided to revert once again to a full-maintenance, contract hire system. In this regard SEGRO was impressed not only by Marshall Leasing’s open disclosure policy but by their ability to identify and address all the contentious areas that had previously driven the decision to move away from contract hire in the first place.

The above was realized via a substantial sale and lease-back proposition from Marshall Leasing which also provided a substantial cash injection for SEGRO, a business that now found itself at last coupled to a Fleet Partner they could trust; SEGRO had come full circle.

Hydro International develops innovative solutions for cost effective stormwater and wastewater management.
Headquartered outside of Bristol, England, Hydro conducts operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United
States and worldwide through a combined network of licensees and distributors.

As a consequence of their commercial activity they have a need to operate a small to medium sized company vehicle fleet

In 2005 Hydro International PLC acquired Vexamus Water Group, an existing Marshall Leasing customer. However Hydro’s
Bristol-based fleet operation was supplied and serviced by a larger, Pan-European leasing provider and so there was a natural
interest in migrating the small but no less significant Vexamus fleet to this provider, as and when vehicles came up for
replacement. Additionally, in early 2006, a new Finance Director joined the team and began to focus attention on Hydro’s
supplier relationships and the value, importance and service that suppliers placed on these relationships.

The long-held Marshall Leasing ethos of building long-term partnerships with its clients initially seemed attractive to the
management team in Bristol. A series of in-depth meetings, visits and analysis took place between Hydro International
and Marshall where we were able to demonstrate that we could provide a dedicated and personal service, backed up
by the flexibility and stability that came from being part of one of the UK’s largest privately owned and run businesses.

Hyrdro International found itself increasingly persuaded that a smaller organization such as Marshall Leasing was
better placed to service their total fleet than a larger and somewhat impersonal provider. Consequently in 2008
Marshall successfully negotiated to become the sole-supplier of the entire UK fleet.

Marshall Leasing has since helped Hydro to reduce its carbon footprint and its impact on the environment by promoting lower
Co2 emitting vehicles at the same time as motivating staff through an updated driver choice package. We have also helped
by providing assistance and advice in meeting Duty of Care obligations and in so doing have helped identify ways of managing
internal policies and processes whilst highlighting risk awareness through the profiling of Hydro’s employees .

Gratte Brothers Group is one of the UK’s leading independent building services companies providing from one source
a complete range of electrical, mechanical, security and commercial catering facility services. Originally registered in
1946, today the Group employs over 650 personnel and has a turnover in excess of £100m per annum.

Gratte Brothers had been running its own fleet for 60 years. Gratte believed however that with all the new legislation that has come into force their business needed more professionalism. Being cash-rich and with many good contacts that had built up over the years Gratte were reluctant to opt for Contract Hire as their means of acquisition; additionally their vehicle usage made it very difficult to accurately assess period mileage. With this background they decided to seek an organization to manage both their fleet and transport legislation leaving Gratte free to buy and sell its fleet as it saw fit.

From a list of five potential providers Gratte eventually produced a short list of two with Marshall Leasing emerging as
the successful tender. It had proved to be an interesting and exciting project for Gratte which produced a highly satisfactory outcome.

The company had always budgeted its annual transport costs but Marshall’s fleet management methodology and
processes immediately produced savings in this area. Paperwork and administration were reduced to a minimum eliminating the multiple invoices Gratte had typically been receiving on a monthly basis.
Staffing was reduced as a consequence from one Manager to one Supervisor. Marshall Leasing also provided peace
of mind via the updating (by Marshall) of Gratte’s internal transport policy documentation leading to greater compliance
from a duty of care perspective.

The Peverel Group began as part of the McCarthy & Stone group of companies. In 1982 McCarthy & Stone incorporated Peverel Management Services Limited to provide property management and ancillary services to its private retirement housing developments.

Following a management buyout in 1993 and a series of subsequent acquisitions, the Peverel Group and its companies has grown to offer the comprehensive range of property related services that exist today. It is the largest property management company in Europe.

In 2006 Ian Green was appointed as the first full-time (company car coordinator) in a role that had previously been covered on a part-time basis from within the accounts department. At this time the business operated approximately 160 company cars which were funded by one of the UK’s Top Five leasing providers. Over the first six months (e.g. Feb 2006 to Aug 2006) of Ian’s tenure all appeared to be working well whilst the association with the incumbent was by now over 6 six years old. However, it was soon evident that invoicing errors and the poor management of daily rental vehicles needed to be addressed, so attempts were made to correct the failures. 14 months later and with no improvement to services it was decided to terminate the working relationship.

After a thorough review and many meetings with two alternative funding partners the Group decided to offer an opportunity to another well known national leasing company. All started well but again after just a few months promises had been broken and due to the economic climate in 2008 restrictions were placed (i.e. by the new provider) around funding availability. Frustrated with the situation and feeling extremely let down an ultimatum was offered which resulted in an amicable parting of the waves.

In April 2009 Ian Green (now Fleet Manager) had a chance meeting with Richard Baird of Marshall Leasing during a break at an ACFO meeting. Drawn to Richard’s sympathetic approach and responses together with his refreshing nonsalesman- like attitude a dialogue between the two continued over the next few months.

A genuine belief arose within Peverel that at last a leasing company with the same business ethic and standards, together with a realistic attitude to a long lasting partnership was possible. In July 2009 senior management on both sides met to discuss the fine detail and not long after the first orders were placed.

Two years later, and with the fleet size now hovering around the 370 vehicle mark, the novelty for Peverel of having a trusted and reliable funding partner has not worn off. In fact the union grows stronger each month. When asked “what are the differences with Marshall Leasing?” Peverel’s Ian Green replied as follows:

• Professional senior management that make themselves available
• Friendly, professional, and consistent daily contacts
• Speedy responses to queries
• No hidden or surprise charges
• Competitive monthly rentals
• Accurate invoicing
• Positive driver feedback
• Supportive attitude to changes in business requirements

Ian Green’s final analysis would be that “in life we make decisions that we believe are right at the time, but sometimes things don’t always work out the way you intended, but despite having been disappointed with our previous funding partners, Marshall Leasing have more than made up for past experiences and restored our faith.“