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OVERALL company car, van and truck fleet sizes have continued to fall in the UK post-recession economy, according to a new survey.
Out of 115 fleets questioned by MIB Data Solutions, which produces the Fleet Data and Fleet Entire industry databases, 23% said that their fleet was today smaller than at the technical end of the recession in autumn/winter 2009.
This contrasts with 17% of fleets who said that they had grown and 60% which said that their fleet numbers had been unchanged over the same period. The companies questioned covered a wide range with between one and 600 cars, vans and trucks.
Nick Boddington, managing director, at MIB Data Solutions, said the results showed that the recession had continued to take its toll on many UK businesses long after it had technically ended.
He explained: ‘Certainly, our data indicates that the number of fleets which have reduced in size during the last two years outnumber those which have seen an increase by some margin.
‘It suggests that the recession was having a marked, negative effect on many UK businesses long after it had technically ended and into a period when there was mild economic growth recorded.’
The reductions, the survey revealed, have been concentrated towards larger fleets, with one respondent reporting a fall in size from 450 to 300 vehicles.
He said: ‘It is difficult to draw exact conclusions from this trend but perhaps suggests that smaller, more nimble companies had already downsized their fleets to the minimum level at the time when the recession ended while larger organisations were still in the process of making changes to their fleets at that point.
‘However, the research is not all bad news. Seventeen per cent of companies did say that their fleet size had increased, which is perhaps an indication that the economic growth seen in 2010-2011, while subdued, still had a positive effect.’
Out of 115 fleets questioned by MIB Data Solutions, which produces the Fleet Data and Fleet Entire industry databases, 23% said that their fleet was today smaller than at the technical end of the recession in autumn/winter 2009.
This contrasts with 17% of fleets who said that they had grown and 60% which said that their fleet numbers had been unchanged over the same period. The companies questioned covered a wide range with between one and 600 cars, vans and trucks.
Nick Boddington, managing director, at MIB Data Solutions, said the results showed that the recession had continued to take its toll on many UK businesses long after it had technically ended.
He explained: ‘Certainly, our data indicates that the number of fleets which have reduced in size during the last two years outnumber those which have seen an increase by some margin.
‘It suggests that the recession was having a marked, negative effect on many UK businesses long after it had technically ended and into a period when there was mild economic growth recorded.’
The reductions, the survey revealed, have been concentrated towards larger fleets, with one respondent reporting a fall in size from 450 to 300 vehicles.
He said: ‘It is difficult to draw exact conclusions from this trend but perhaps suggests that smaller, more nimble companies had already downsized their fleets to the minimum level at the time when the recession ended while larger organisations were still in the process of making changes to their fleets at that point.
‘However, the research is not all bad news. Seventeen per cent of companies did say that their fleet size had increased, which is perhaps an indication that the economic growth seen in 2010-2011, while subdued, still had a positive effect.’