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Case Studies

Client: Morgan Est
Contact: Andrea Walton

“Early solutions together” is an approach so central to the way that Morgan Est does business that if forms part of its name: that’s what Est stands for.

It’s also a fitting description for the way that the Rugby-based company – responsible for high profile civil engineering, infrastructure, tunnelling and utilities schemes across the UK, for clients including the National Grid and BAA  – has collaborated with Opticar to create the pioneering car scheme known as Optifleet.

The relationship between the businesses began in 2001, when Morgan Est was born from the acquisition of Miller Civil Engineering Services by construction specialist Morgan Sindall plc. The takeover created an opportunity to develop a new and improved car scheme for around 500 employees.

Morgan Est’s preferred option was an employee car ownership (ECO) scheme, which can be a cost-effective option for firms whose employees clock up high business mileage. Their search for a scheme provider led to Opticar and together they created a scheme based on an ECO platform.

Initially the scheme brought Morgan Est significant savings, but after five years, the company grew dramatically and those who had low mileage started to cost the company money,

Andrea Walton, HR Director for Morgan Est, said:  “We decided to look at ways to provide more options and better value to our employees, and ourselves and reduce our complete dependence on the ECO. We also wanted to make our car scheme greener, by reducing our fleet’s greenhouse gas emissions.”

With that brief in mind, Opticar worked with Morgan Est to develop its flagship Optifleet scheme, which offers companies the unique flexibility of a mixed fleet operation. Drivers choose the most cost-effective option for their circumstances from a company car, ECO or cash allowance option, while Opticar manages and delivers the scheme, from vehicle procurement and disposal to online mileage logging, payroll calculations and maintenance and servicing.

Morgan Est wanted to give their employees more choice. Using the online Optifleet system, their employees can see exactly how much each of the three options will cost them, enabling them to select the one that best suits their circumstances and business mileage.

Ms Walton, added: “It is in our employees best interest to find the car choice that delivers the best miles per gallon, our average mpg has gone up and emissions have dropped, from an average 182g/km of carbon dioxide (CO2) when Optifleet was launched in 2005 to 159g/km in 2007, so we have a cleaner, greener fleet.”

Optifleet’s clarity and flexibility means that it has worked well since day one. Today, around half Morgan Est’s 2,500 employees are involved and new employees are introduced to Optifleet through briefings built into Morgan Est’s induction process.