Safety-focused Claire becomes an 'industry hero'
Developing and implementing a pioneering safety-focused online vehicle recall system has won Northgate Vehicle Hire’s Claire Piggott a top award from the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA).
Claire, Recalls Administrator at Northgate, Britain’s largest vehicle rental company with a fleet of more than 60,000 vehicles at 75 locations across the UK, was named 2009 BVRLA Industry Hero in the Commercial Vehicle category at the Association’s annual dinner attended by around 900 people at London’s Hilton Hotel, Park Lane.
“I am absolutely delighted that my idea has won such a prestigious award. I am proud of the safety benefits it has given to the drivers of our vehicles,” said Claire, who has been at Darlington-based Northgate for two years.
“Historically the process for recalls was paper based, which was both time consuming and inefficient. This was proceeded with an excel spreadsheet where information was manually entered which was a full time administrative task and often prone to human error and time delays.
“I could see that there was an opportunity to introduce a new online system utilising Northgate’s in-house IT development team which could integrate with our existing company database. Having this new initiative implemented within our organisation assists our commitment to safety.”
BVRLA chief executive John Lewis said: “We are delighted with the positive reaction our members have given the BVRLA Industry Hero Awards in their first year. We received more than 30 entries from a wide range of companies, big and small. All of the candidates deserve recognition for their efforts and achievements, and it is a shame that we can only highlight three of them.
“Our industry’s workforce is one of its biggest strengths, and the BVRLA Annual Dinner is the perfect setting to celebrate this.”
In selecting the Northgate Online Recalls System as an Awards winner, the judges, led by BVRLA chairman Kevin McNally, said: “As well as being an outstanding safety initiative, Claire’s achievement helps to demonstrate that our industry continues to put the welfare of all road users at the heart of what it does.”
Although the Northgate Online Recalls System was pioneered and project managed by Claire, implementation required a full team effort, with help and support from IT Analyst Programmer Stephen Thompson and feedback and user-testing from across the Northgate rental UK-wide network of 75 locations.
Northgate Marketing Director, Ross Clarkson said: “This is an excellent initiative which highlights how we encourage all staff to get involved in sharing best practice and improving the way we do business. Some of this work was done in Claire’s own time demonstrating her commitment to implementing this new system, which has been instrumental in tackling the large number of manufacturer recalls.
For further information, visit: www.northgateplc.com/
Published: 08/03/2010
