THE FUTURE of Carillion Fleet Management – billed as “one of the largest fleet service providers in the UK” – is up in the air following Monday’s news of parent Carillion plc’s liquidation.
Britain’s second largest construction firm, which employed 20,000 people in Britain, crashed on Monday with debts of about £1.5 billion.
Carillion’s work stretched from the HS2 rail project from London to Birmingham and military contracts to maintaining hospitals, schools, and prisons.
Carillion Fleet Management, managing more than 10,000 vehicles – mainly vans and trucks but cars too – at the last count, according to its website boasted “a fully encompassing Fleet Management Service across the UK both internally for Carillion plc and externally for a large number of corporate customers.”
Today the fleet management company was still taking calls on the helpline used by clients for service maintenance and repair.
But while the government has promised that Carillion operations in the public sector – such as for schools, hospitals and prisons – would continue while support for those in the private sector would cease in 48 hours, the fleet management company straddles the two sectors.
However a company spokesman said that, pending clarification from liquidators PriceWaterhouseCoopers – which was asked for details by Car & Van Funding on Monday with no detailed response to date – it was “standing by to continue supporting customers”.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers issued a general statement saying: “As the appointed Special Managers, we will be working closely with all parties, including the suppliers and subcontractors.
“The nature of the appointment and the funding available allows the Liquidator and the Special Managers to continue to operate the business as normal whilst the position and options are assessed. The Official Receiver’s priority is to ensure the continuity of public services while securing the best outcome for creditors.”
Carillion used an extensive network of small firms and spent £952m with local suppliers in 2016.
The complexity of the operation means that with Carillion Fleet Management there is no quick fix, no easy transfer of the managed fleet with all the legal ramifications.
Disposal of the fleet to recoup some cash from the assets could cause mayhem in the used vehicle market, with a major task for remarketing experts.
And that would cause major financial trauma affecting hundreds if not thousands of SMEs
Carillion Fleet Management: What it offered
We have an unrivalled portfolio of Fleet Management Services available which are guaranteed to meet the Fleet Management needs of your business.
These include:
- Fleet Management & Consultancy Services
- New Vehicle Procurement & Policy Control
- Accident Repair Services, Uninsured Loss Recovery, PI Support & Third Party Capture
- Full suite of Maintenance Management Services & Compliance + 24/7 Breakdown & Recovery
- Motor-Insurance-Database Management & Insurance Services
- Driver Training & Driver Licence Checking
- Fleet Administration. Driver Offence Management & Vehicle Telematic Solutions
- Heavy Goods Vehicle/ O Licence Vehicle Compliance
- Short Term Hire Vehicles – Full UK coverage with a Door-to-Door Delivery/ Collection Service
- Vehicle Disposal & Re-Sale Value Management
All of our clients will enjoy the benefit of a dedicated Customer Account Manager who will support both you and your business with Vehicle Fleet related Cost Control, Process Efficiency and Vehicle Compliance.
It’s not just a relationship, it’s a partnership, where we work in collaboration with our customers to understand and harmonise with their business strategy.
