Thrifty renews My Name'5 Doddie support
EXETER-based Thrifty Car & Van Rental is renewing its commitment to the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation charity for a sixth consecutive year.
The My Name’5 Doddie is a foundation that raises funds to aid research into Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and to support fellow sufferers. The charity was set up in 2017 by rugby legend Doddie Weir shortly after he was diagnosed with the disease.
So far Thrifty has raised in excess of £300,000 for the cause through its fundraising activities. The business has provided regular donations, auction prizes, event fundraising and also supplied logistics support vehicles for MND events.
Last year, Thrifty UK Managing Director Martin Wilson joined Kenny Logan’s Edinburgh to Paris cycle ride to support the foundation. The pair are pictured above, with Wilson on the right.
Joining Thrifty’s fundraising will be Switch, the new rental brand from the Scot Group Ltd, the UK’s largest privately owned car and van rental business, which also runs the Thrifty franchise.
Fleets face rising costs for SMR
EPYX reports that the costs of fleet parts have risen 35% over the last four years.
The automotive e-commerce supplier says that, using a basket of common parts including front discs and pads, wiper blades, clutch, pollen filter, headlamp bulbs and spark plugs, the total cost has risen from £713 in 2020 to £963 in 2024.
The biggest increases have been seen for headlamp bulbs (up by over 45%), clutch (up by over 40%), spark plugs and pollen filters (up by over a third).
Tim Meadows, the CCO of epyx (pictured), said: “It’s well known in the fleet sector that parts production has been hit in all kinds of ways in recent years, from the effects of the pandemic through to the war in Ukraine, and that there has been a resulting marked impact on prices.
“This data shows exactly how much. While the overall rate of UK inflation since 2020 has been around 22%, fleets have seen the prices of these parts rise by an additional 13%. These are dramatic increases that have had a definite impact on overall running costs.”
James Hopkins and Maria Avery join DMN logistics
JAMES Hopkins has been appointed interim Managing Director at DMN Group. The former BCA and LeasePlan executive will support the development of the company’s logistics service while overseeing business operations. He also joins the DMN Group board.
Nick Chadaway, Managing Director at DMN Group said: “James has extensive experience in the automotive industry, with excellent skills in building strategic partnerships and has proven time and time again to be a driving force of growth and development within his previous roles.”
Also joining James at DMN is Maria Avery, former Commercial Director at City Auction Group. She takes up the role of Account Director at the recently launched Rapid Logistics division. In her new role, Maria will take on the operational leadership of the time-critical vehicle logistics division.
Prior to the City Auction Group, Maria was Head of Business at Tesla and held sales manager roles at Norton Way Mazda, Sytner Mercedes-Benz and Marshalls Toyota.
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Ralph Morton is the leading journalist in the leasing broker sector and editor of Broker News, the website which provides information and news for BVRLA-registered leasing brokers. He also writes extensively on the fleet and leasing market in both the UK and Europe.
