Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd is the trading arm of The Salvation Army in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Established in 1991 it helps fund The Salvation Army’s vital work with vulnerable people in the UK by raising money and encouraging reuse and recycling through a network of over 200 charity shops and a clothing collection division.
Operating a fleet of 120 vans and 30 cars, the company had historically bought its vehicles outright but was looking to future-proof its fleet with improved efficiencies, better budgeting and professional fleet management. The aim was also to move to greener vehicles as part of a zero-emission future.
To achieve this, the Management Board decided to convert the fleet to contract hire through a sale and leaseback, and, following a strategic review, chose Grosvenor Leasing.
Chris Bentley, the Salvation Army Trading Company’s fleet manager explained, “Grosvenor Leasing quickly valued our vehicles based on their age and mileage as well as providing us with contract hire rentals to lease each vehicle back to us.
“This gave us a cash injection, which is always beneficial in supporting the important work we do, but more importantly it improved our overall fleet funding and management solution in one transaction.
“With no disruption to our drivers we began benefiting from fixed monthly costs, a removal of risk, less administration and access to a range of additional fleet management solutions.
“One aspect of this was Grosvenor’s fleet management and maintenance management support, which brought a whole new level of expertise to our overall fleet operation.
“They also provided us with dozens of additional vans on short term leases to help with the natural peaks in demand across our UK-wide network of shops.
“It really has been a first-class service from the outset and we look forward to a long-term relationship with Grosvenor to achieve year on year savings.”
The Grosvenor Group’s Lee Brown added, “We were delighted to have been chosen by Salvation Army Trading Company and are now looking to future-proof their fleet with the green agenda very much in mind.
“A key part of this is the vehicles they drive, and we have worked very closely with them to develop a car policy based on whole life costs that will encourage drivers into ultra-low emission and electric vehicles as part of a long-term zero emission goal.”