Leasedrive Velo Blog

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

Life is not a dress rehearsal. It’s the real thing and you have to make the most of the opportunities presented to you and those that you create for yourself. And since the majority of our lives is spent working, it is only natural that we should seek to do something that we believe in and are passionate about. Whether you are a mid-wife or a fleet manager you should feel passionate about what you do. Otherwise, you should do something else. Life’s too short.

I am incredibly passionate about my job and the industry I work in. That’s why I have never contemplated driving off into the sunset and seeking a quieter life. I love cars, the automotive industry and the people that work in it. There is something about people working in the motor industry that differentiates them from employees in other sectors. I don’t know what it is but we talk the same talk and walk the same walk. Well, more or less. It’s probably our enthusiasm for all things mechanical, which have at least two wheels but preferably four. And that collective enthusiasm I could feel last week at the BMW Mini Plant at Cowley where the Institute of Car Fleet Management (ICFM) held its annual members’ national conference and workshop.

It was the 17th such event and the last two have moved away from the traditional conference format. Last year, due to the prevailing economic recession, we decided to hold a free training workshop instead to help members in their drive out of the tough business climate. This year, the ICFM Council decided to opt for a blend of both. A traditional conference programme interspersed with some practical breakout training workshops.

If the initial feedback is anything to go by, I believe it worked well and what was especially evident throughout the programme was our attendees’ passion for our industry. And it was also a great occasion at which to recognise the achievements of others – the 20 recipients of the BVRLA Professional Fleet Consultants Award, the 12 recipients of the Introductory Certificate in Car Fleet Management, the 16 recipients of the Certificate in Car Fleet Management and the seven recipients of the Diploma in Car Fleet Management not to mention the ten inducted as Fellows of the ICFM.

Besides excellent outputs from our two workshop sessions, we benefited from three different stimulating talks from Sara Sillars OBE, executive chair of the Institute of the Motor Industry, Adrian Walsh, secretary and director at RoadSafe, and Kevin Gaskell, CEO of Drive Development.

Adrian gave us a unique insight into the work of RoadSafe and how the fleet industry can contribute to saving lives, most notably by specifying ESC as standard equipment while Kevin rounded off the day with a highly motivational talk on driving success through an organisation of any size, based on his experiences of turning around the fortunes of Porsche GB and his walks to the North and South Poles.

Earlier, Sara Sillars had kick-started the day by giving attendees an insight into the future UK Vocational Qualifications Reform Programme (UK VQRP). The programme, somewhat of a mouthful, will aim to allow employees to acquire new skills’ qualifications ‘bit by bit’ and harmonise the different qualifications available.

More importantly, the programme will underpin Government’s declared ambition of ensuring that one in every two adults, as a minimum, raises their game by studying and passing a higher-level qualification to the one they held at the outset of their working life. It’s believed that is the only way of ensuring that our nation remains competitive in a global market.

In that regard, the ICFM qualifications are already in place, and are externally moderated and endorsed by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), part of the City & Guilds Group. We are already ahead of the game in ensuring our sector is the most professional it can be.

The UK fleet industry is widely regarded as the most sophisticated in the world. There is no place for the ‘interested amateur.’ Those looking after fleet, whether in a full-time role or as part of a financial or HR remit, are responsible for controlling one of the most expensive organisational costs alongside estates, people and IT. They are also responsible for one of the most emotive elements of a total reward package. Unsurprisingly, therefore, those in charge should be professionals holding recognised qualifications. This is where the ICFM comes into play. It’s no secret that my declared ambition is to see every fleet-related job advertisement carry words along the lines of ‘relevant ICFM qualification a pre-requisite/preferred’.

Professionalism and passion go hand in hand. Passion was evident in our audience, among all our guest speakers and among our Council, who gave freely of their time to make the event the success that it was. It’s what makes our industry lead the world. And it’s why I’m a member of and chairman of the ICFM. I’m passionate about our profession.

It seems we are all being fattened up for the big chop. Talk of 25% cuts in government budgets on public spending have given way to news that departments are also being asked to prepare budgets for a second potential scenario, that of 40% cuts in government spending. Health and international aid are the only ring-fenced departments not due to suffer cuts and the likes of defence and education are due to be protected as far as possible. Guess which department will really be for the chop? Yes, Transport surprise, surprise. Apparently, road repairs are the only costs that are likely to remain unaffected but we’ll have to see about that.

Already comes news that £17.2 million will be cut from the road safety budget. This follows latest government statistics showing the number of deaths on Britain’s roads fell by 12% last year to a record low of 2222 in 2009, while child deaths fell from 124 to 81. Total casualties, including slight injuries, were 4% down. It is troubling to think that complacency may be creeping in on road safety at a time when the trend for fatalities is consistently downward.

Naturally, various organisations are up in arms over the news, led by road safety charity, Brake. However, as with other areas of government spending, Whitehall is looking at avoiding the prevalent duplication of activities by various departments and organisations. Such an approach would make natural sense but not at the expense of road safety.

The potential consequences of the deep cut in road safety budgets should cause considerable concern among fleet managers. As we all know, the benefits of proper risk management, including road safety, far outweigh the costs.

It’s not as if that, while road deaths are on the decline, our roads are the safest. Indeed, the UK is ranked only the fourth safest in Europe for its road network. The European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP), which rates the safety risk of roads in Europe, considers just 53% of the UK’s roads to be ‘low risk’.

The EuroRAP score assesses roads on how well their design protects users from death or disabling injury in the event of an accident with the safest awarded four stars.

In the UK, half of the motorways under the Highways Agency’s control achieved a four-star rating while 78% of dual carriageways were given a three-star rating. EuroRAP considers the protection offered if a vehicle runs off the road, the risk of a head-on collision and the safety of junctions.

Half of motorways do not protect users if they run off the road while for dual carriageways the figure is a high 90%. Ninety-seven per cent however do offer protection against head-on collisions. Single carriageways lacked the most safety features, 62% rated two stars.

According to EuroRAP our road safety network is just not consistent enough. For example, Scottish roads are twice as risky as roads in England and Wales and the safest country, Sweden, has managed to design single carriageways with safety records even higher than motorways, something believed not to be achievable.

Meanwhile, the Road Safety Foundation suggests that a lick of paint can work wonders. Fatal and serious collisions can be reduced by over 70% by improving road markings and signage, applying high-friction anti-skid treatments at known accident junction hot spots and generally improving the signage and layout of road junctions.

When the cake gets smaller, it is has to be sliced better. Prudent wielding of the knife does not necessarily mean deep cuts have to have the severe repercussions that may be first anticipated. Government and local councils ignore road safety at their peril. If they do and this results in a reversal of the downward trend in road deaths all fleet managers will have to step up to the plate and provide even better driver training and guidance to their ‘at work’ drivers.