Opening of new Long Marston Fleet Distribution Centre
Added: 13 February 2017
TrustFord marks official opening of Long Marston Fleet Distribution Centre
13 February 2017 – TrustFord has opened its new Fleet Distribution Centre at Long Marston Business Park. The state-of-the-art centre in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, represents a significant investment in TrustFord’s national fleet distribution network.
Trustford is investing heavily in its national fleet capability and its Long Marston facility is the biggest dedicated Ford dealer Logistics centre nationally. The expanded site will serve as a national fleet hub, able to store about 7,000 vehicles, and will handle all fleet logistics requirements from vehicle storage, preparation and onward delivery to customers. It also has dedicated areas for any vehicle modifications from sign writing to ply lining and a state of the art smart repair and bodyshop facility.
When the 22-acre site went into development, the TrustFord team thought through efficient methods of identifying and locating the staggering 7,000 vehicles parked on site. As a result, the company invested in a state of the art GPS system which locates each vehicle within a 3 metre radius.
The new Long Marston centre also refurbishes vehicles after their fleet contracts are complete and prepares them for sale as used vehicles. TrustFord has even invested in an automated photographic studio, which by rotating the vehicle takes it on a 360-degree journey, enabling a complete set of photographs to be captured for web sales.
The site has more than tripled TrustFord’s footprint in Long Marston, where it has been based for the past two years, expanding in size from seven to 22.5 acres. The expanded site handles over 30,000 vehicles a year when operating at capacity. It will also prepare over 3,000 used commercial vehicles for onward sale via the dealer group’s 14 Transit Centres across the UK.
Speaking at the official opening, Steve Hood, CEO and Chairman TrustFord, said: “Today marks a key milestone in TrustFord’s goal of specialising in the Fleet business in the UK. This investment gives us the scale and resources to meet our fleet customers’ needs today and into the future. We treat Fleet sales as a business priority and this investment gives us dedicated IT systems, dedicated vehicle storage & preparation facilities plus bodyshop and repair capacity to ensure we are best placed to meet our Fleet customer needs in the UK.
Kevin Griffin, Sales Director Ford of Britain, said: “I am delighted to take part today in the launch of TrustFord’s latest investment in their impressive new operation. Today demonstrates our mutual commitment to serving Ford’s corporate customers more efficiently than ever, through improved technology and significantly improving and speeding up the preparation of fleet vehicles.”