Developing the fleet strategy to align with the corporate strategy & commitments and to sponsor projects to deliver an ultra low emission fleet

Delivery of the fleet capital program to replace 112 ambulances, deliver a driver safety & asset management system, bunkered fuel sites & a zero emission ambulance project funded by Innovate

Taking a break from being in local authority Transport, I set up my company to be able to provide consultancy services in either Transport or property. I wanted to see if property development was for me & whilst I had a great year working completely out of my comfort zone, I felt my skills were better placed in transport and had a job offer I couldn’t refuse at the London Ambulance Service.

• Responsible for the complete management of Islington’s fleet and maintenance operation, including leading a team of 17 staff and multiple suppliers• Management of significant capital and revenue budgets• Responsible for capital replacement program of a diverse municipal fleet in 2 years for circa 500 vehicles • High cost contract and supplier management experience of ICSL and Enterprise and currently over 100 vehicle, parts and wet stock suppliers• Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) in National Freight and Passenger Transport and am currently managing in excess of 50 O-Licenced vehicles at multiple operating centres with a further 50 on section 19 permits• Management of operational risk to ensure the fleet operates within current legislation and complies with industry best practice using tools such as OCRS, FORS, ISO• Fully accountable for the safe and legal operation of the Islington fleet to the traffic commissioner• Delivering performance statistics for in-house operations and supplier performance for existing or new SLA’s created when insourcing the service• Creation of standard operating processes for all fleet activities and a new fleet user guide for operators and managers to ensure they are operating within the law • Development of a fleet maintenance and management strategy in line with the Freight Transport Association (FTA) using the IRTEC structure• Experience of procurement legislation, tender management and use of frameworks• Development of sustainable transport policies and implementation of eco fleets• Staff training for driver CPC, defect reporting and initial inspections, driver assessments• Vehicle loading and auxiliary equipment – GPS, camera systems, on board weighing• Drivers hours management for Domestic and EU operations and Working time directive• Accident management, driving assessments, driver licensing and automated checking

In addition to the fleet contract management, I ran the Accessible Transport Service providing home to school services for children with special needs and adults to day centres. • Decarbonisation of Islington’s fleet with current shift to electrification supported by significant funding from the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). • Re-engineered accessible transport service due to significant shortfall in audit compliance.• Developing accurate Service Level Agreements in conjunction with key stakeholders including Head teachers, Centre Managers and Fleet clients. • Reporting, forecasting and accountable for significant budget. • Developed and implemented a taxi framework saving £70k pa. • Managing, negotiating and ensuring contractors are compliant and value for money. • Managing the development and appraisals of a team of six managers and ultimate responsibility for over 140 staff in total to deliver the service. • Reporting monthly performance KPIs to directors.

Contract managing 200 vehicles and two demises of a waste transfer depot. Creating a transitional shift from a standard council fleet to a multi award winning ‘Green fleet’. • Developing and implementing an award winning green fleet strategy, constantly refining the fuel hierarchy with evolving technology. • Developing bids and proposals to test new technology for bodies such as TfL and DfT. • Spotting potential opportunities for commercial development and implementing these in the fleet. Examples include bio-fuel from Islington’s used oil and bio-methane from refuse.• Developing the external profile of Islington’s stance on sustainable transport with the press and OEMs through interviews, published articles and presentations. • Managing a PFI contract for fleet and being actively involved in transport bodies such as the Association of London Transport Officers and the Freight Transport Association. • Implementing GPRS and routing software to reduce mileage and emissions. These successes helped to open up new areas of funding through the DfT and Energy saving trust.• Implemented best value review projects auditing departments and improving performance, achieving ISO:9001 and charter mark for fleet processes and then ISO:14001 for our environmental management system

Placement year where I was involved with the launch of four new vehicle models including Vectra, Meriva and the VX220 Turbo. I was responsible for the fulfilment and presentation of verification schemes for new models, vehicle testing and dealership reporting. I had responsibility for all technical field remedies and maintained the product resolution database for recalls, reworks and exchanges.

This was a one-year placement whilst studying for A-levels to develop a system to test the functionality of the dashboard cluster of the Ford Focus during production at Dunton. The project was from initiation and resulted in a full production unit and the associated design, testing and project management.