FMS began to supply wheelchair accessible minibuses to Avery Healthcare in 2012. As the
group grew quickly between 2014 and 2016, the challenges of managing a large fleet of
minibuses, as well as ancillary vehicles, had become onerous for the team at Avery, and
costs were starting to spiral out of control. FMS were then engaged to completely manage
the fleet, and quickly set about bringing order and cost control to these assets.
The first step was to set up a database of vehicles and their operational status, and then
create clear records on MoT and Loler compliance, as well as outstanding servicing. Worn
tyres and any faults arising since the last MoT were also addressed. Mileages and mileage
records from older MoT’s were also reviewed to obtain a pattern of usage for each home
and each vehicle.
FMS also reviewed the finance status of all the vehicles, to understand those that were
owned outright and those that were still under lease. That enabled them to prioritise
replacement of the older paid-up vehicles, turning them into cash to enable investment and
deposits for newer ULEZ-compliant vehicles. Those that were still under finance were then
reviewed for usage, and stock was then rotated around some of the homes to ensure
balanced usage and mileages over time.
A final part of the review and rationalisation of the Avery fleet was to examine the type of
usage of each vehicle, to ensure that each home had a minibus that met their needs. FMS
interviewed all of the home managers to establish how many residents and staff typically
used their minibus, and concluded that many vehicles were oversized for the needs,
meaning an unnecessary cost to meet requirements. Most Home Managers also fed back
that many members of staff were not confident in driving the larger minibuses, and
preferred the smaller and medium-sized wheelchair accessible options.
This enabled FMS to design a cost-effective program of replacement over time for the
better-suited minibuses that would more closely meet the needs of the residents and staff.
Adrian Doyle, Director at Avery Healthcare has been very pleased with the service from
FMS. “FMS have successfully served our countrywide wheelchair accessible minibus needs
for Avery care homes for many years now, and their customer service and attention to
detail has always been exemplary. They have ensured that our vehicles our road legal, Loler
compliant, MoT’d and serviced, and always safe for our colleagues and people that we
support. They’ll even organise hire vehicles if we have a breakdown”.
He added, “By matching the right vehicles to the individual needs of each of our homes they
have saved us costs, saved us staff time, and have sometimes been able to supply us with
VAT exempt vehicles. They’ve even helped us source small vans for our mobile technicians
and decorators. It’s fabulous customer service from a genuine family-run concern, that
makes the difference in how we best support life outside of the home for our residents.”
For more on how FMS can transform how you provide quality transport for the people that
you support, call us on 01604 385485 or e-mail him info@wheelchairaccessminibuses.co.uk.
