Citroen & MITIE - Award-winning combination
Justin Patterson, group fleet manager of the MITIE Group, and the Citroen Berlingo are both recent award-winners. In the Fleet Van Awards 2009, Justin Patterson won the prestigious title of Van Fleet Manager of the Year and the Citroen Berlingo gained the accolades of Van of the Year and Small Van of the Year - adding to its already sizeable haul of industry awards for 2009.
Demonstrating his award-winning fleet management abilities, Justin Patterson has chosen the award-winning Berlingo van for the MITIE Group fleet, and explains: “Since the new Berlingo was launched last year, we have been buying both Berlingo L1 and, more recently, L2 models for use by all three MITIE Group divisions. We now have 188 Citroen Berlingos in service. The Berlingo is unique in its sector in that it offers more load space and thus provides us with greater operational flexibility, as well as low operating costs.”
The Berlingos, which are purchased outright, will have a four year or 90,000 mile service life. The majority of these Berlingos are 1.6HDi 90hp models in LX trim, with 20 Berlingo dual fuel (petrol/lpg) vans also now operational.
The MITIE Group is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and improving the fuel efficiency of its fleet. In both these respects, the Berlingo meets the MITIE Group’s requirements, with low CO2 emissions and excellent fuel economy characteristics, which are confirmed in the recently published Department for Transport SMMT Van CO2 database. This recognises that the new Berlingo, with CO2 emissions starting from just 153g/km, is significantly better than most other vans in its class.
The standard fitment of Trafficmaster Smartnav is also recognised by the MITIE Group as being a positive move in both improving productivity and increasing the Berlingo’s fuel economy even further.
The MITIE Group is a nationwide facilities, property and asset management service provider. The company’s facilities management operations include catering, cleaning, landscaping, pest control and security. Its property management division includes building refurbishment, fitting out, roofing and roof maintenance operations. Mechanical and electrical engineering and maintenance, as well as energy generation and management are the responsibility of the MITIE Group’s asset management division.
