United Kingdom: Siemens UK offers staff on-demand access to vehicles for business travel

The UK arm of German automation group Siemens has unveiled a new transport programme for its staff, which will provide on-demand access to vehicles to all its 15,000 employees. Under the plans announced at the end of March, Siemens staff will be able to use the more than 1,400 vehicles provided by the Enterprise Car Club – the majority of which are low- and zero-emission – spread across 200 towns and cities in the UK, as well as in rural areas and on-site at Siemens premises. To do this, employees simply need to book the vehicle via an application on their phone or show their ID card. Siemens, for its part, will be able to check directly that each journey complies with the company’s travel policy. Wayne Warburton, head of mobility services at Siemens UK, says the use of an on-demand system will help to “reduce cost, emissions and business mileage while fully supporting a diverse range of employee travel needs”. An existing partnership with Enterprise Car Club has already enabled the group to reduce the size of its vehicle fleet by one third. “Because so many of Enterprise’s on-street vehicles are low- and zero-emission, the programme reaches our sustainability goals without affecting the business-critical journeys employees have to make to locations,” Warburton continues. The company has also planned to retain some long-term rental agreements for employees who need a vehicle on a permanent basis.