Breezemount makes it a ‘full house’ for Enterprise-Bevan partnership

The 24 new DAF 7.5-tonners are equipped with DriveCam front- and cab-facing safety cameras and have been assigned to Breezemount’s prestigious contract with a leading furniture retailer, which has grown by 35% over the last two years.

Backbone of the operation are the 95 vehicles – a combination of 7.5- and 12-tonne DAF chassis with Bevan box bodies – which have been on hire from Enterprise since 2012.

The remaining two dozen trucks on Breezemount’s core fleet had been sourced from another provider, which also built their bodies. The operator’s recent decision to send back and replace them with its first Euro VI vehicles, supplied by Enterprise and built by Bevan, means that for the first time the two partners can lay claim to 100% of their customer’s fleet at 7.5 tonnes and above.

To supplement its seven days a week, 362 days a year operation during busy periods, Breezemount also rents additional vehicles from Enterprise.

Based in Daventry, Northamptonshire, Breezemount was founded in the 1990s with just four vehicles; it now runs more than 250 trucks and vans. The company is a leading provider of two-man home delivery services, and completed more than a million assignments last year.

 

Since 2011 Breezemount has been making timed deliveries up until 9pm of furniture and home furnishing goods direct to consumers’ homes throughout England and Ireland. This sector has seen significant growth in the UK, and Breezemount’s own business has forged ahead strongly.

Breezemount Head of Fleet Graham Brooks confirms: "Our latest order means that having previously provided the majority of our trucks, Enterprise Flex-E-Rent is now responsible for the entire contract hire fleet. We enjoy an excellent relationship with its team, who have proved flexible and responsive to changing levels of demand within our business.”

Mr Brooks continues: "We have worked closely with Enterprise to understand and manage risk and increase safety, while also restricting our operational costs, with minor changes to standard specification such as ‘unbreakable’ mirrors. 

"The quality and durability of the vehicle bodies is a key component in this – the construction of our Bevan boxes has proved to be markedly superior to those by the other supplier we were using previously, and this has translated into lower costs and reduced downtime. 

"Bevan has also enhanced the body specification for our new vehicles, incorporating additional measures to protect against damage, particularly of the corner cappings.” 

He adds: "Given the seven days a week nature of our operation, maximising vehicle utilisation is crucial and we also benefit from timely and efficient product back-up. The truck bodies and tail-lifts are maintained and repaired at our locations by Bevan Aftercare’s mobile technicians. They provide a first class service, while from our point of view the liaison between Enterprise and Bevan is seamless.”    

Mark Howell, Sales Director at Enterprise Flex-E-Rent, says: "Bevan’s bodies are built to a very high standard. Sales Director Roy Shelton and his colleagues are also extremely helpful and quick to react, and its Aftercare service is second to none. 

"We are delighted that by working in close partnership our two companies have been successful in securing this significant new order from Breezemount.”