FEATURE: BUSINESS TRAVEL
Birmingham to London in just 90 minutes
Nicola Clark Head of Marketing and Communications Chiltern Railways
The 5th September 2011 brought an exciting new travel opportunity for those travelling to London on business. Mainline from Chiltern
Railways brings fast, comfortable travel between Britain’s first and second cities. Mainline trains from Birmingham Moor Street have all the features needed to make the best use of travel time; with tables at almost every seat, plug points and free Wi-Fi, it’s the perfect work environment on the move. Chiltern strongly believes
you shouldn’t have to pay more when your plans change and have therefore come up with three simple, flexible fares for travel to London: £25 Super Off Peak; £50 Off Peak; and £75 Anytime return.
‘Chiltern believes you shouldn’t have to pay more when your plans change and have come up with three flexible fares’
On key peak services the
training operatior also provide a Business Zone; for just £20 passengers can upgrade to wider seats with large tables for working, a dedicated Business Zone host and a private environment ideal for concentration. A weekday at-seat catering
service is available on Mainline trains departing Moor Street before midday, and some afternoon trains too. Silver trains also have an Espresso Bar where great quality food is available, including freshly cooked bacon rolls. In the West Midlands Mainline trains also call at Solihull and Warwick Parkway with travel times of 1hr 22mins and 1hr 10mins respectively.
For further information visit
www.chilternrailways.co.uk /mainline
36 CHAMBERLINK OCTOBER 2011
SPONSORED BY: CHILTERN RAILWAYS
Independent garages offer service savings
BY PHILIP PARKIN A
campaign to persuade motorists of the benefits of getting their cars serviced at independent garages rather than main dealers has failed to take off. One of the independents, Burton-based Crescent
Motoring Services, says that even despite new EU laws being passed on the issue nine years ago, most motorists remained totally ignorant of the situation. Crescent managing director Steve Tallet said he had
been very vociferous in trying to persuade motorists that they didn’t need to get their cars serviced at main dealers, but added that his industry as a whole had done little to bring the matter to the public’s attention. “We as an industry have let ourselves down badly,” he said. “We have had nine years to shout it from the rooftops and really, really haven’t. The message is not getting through.”
‘Huge savings could be made by using an independent garage’
According to Mr Tallet, the issue at stake is that the majority of consumers are under the impression that they have to get their cars serviced at main dealerships whilst under warranty. Because of this, they are likely to pay far more for servicing than would be the case if they had shopped around. He said that huge savings could be made by using an independent garage – he gave an example where his own company had proved that they could service a particular make of car for 44 per cent less than the local main dealer. He added that this was not done by cutting corners – all parts used were genuine, and were often exactly the same make as the main dealer would use. He added that the fact that both the independents and the main dealers used the same parts was instrumental in the EU passing laws in 2002 which prevented car manufacturers from forcing consumers to use the latter during the warranty period.
Pic: Steve Tallet: the right to choose (pic courtesy of Burton Mail/Staffordshire Newspapers)
“Brussels decided: ‘why should motor manufacturers
insist that you fit only their genuine parts to keep your warranty valid, when they didn’t even make those parts’,” he said. “Now it is an offence to tell you that – but they still imply that you need to bring your car in for a service to keep the warranty valid.” In a bid to get the message across to motorists about the benefits of using independent garages, a new campaign has been launched in Birmingham. The ‘Right to Choose’ campaign is aimed at
informing motorists about the choices open to them for servicing and maintenance during warranty periods.
Company goes that extra mile
Thousands of company car drivers are underestimating the distances they travel each year by thousands of miles, leading to huge additional costs for their employers. According to Flexible Vehicle Contracts, many clients
are opting for the lowest possible mileage contracts for their vehicles but soon find that it’s a false economy.
‘We are advising all of our clients to be realistic with their mileage predictions’
The company has launched a service that helps companies keep track of mileage each month and, if they are in danger of exceeding their limits, gives them an opportunity to re-negotiate the terms of the contract to make it more cost-effective. Phil Roberts, managing director of Staffordshire-based
Flexible Vehicle Contracts, said: “We are advising all of our clients to be realistic with their mileage predictions. “A survey of our clients showed that 65 per cent actually altered their annual mileage predictions
upwards from an average 10,000 miles per annum to 14,500 per annum. “We have noticed a trend for clients to go for the
lowest possible mileage contracts partly to keep monthly costs low but more because they are actually unaware of the mileages each year they cover. Ten thousand miles gives an average of only 27 miles per day. “We are launching an email and text service to our
clients to keep tabs on their mileages. Each month they will send us their recorded mileage and we will project if they are over their projected mileage and discuss it with them. If the case is that the mileages have been predicted incorrectly we will help them re-negotiate their annual mileage.” The service is being offered on both short-term
contracts and traditional two and three leasing products. Since its launch in 1996, Flexible Vehicle Contracts has delivered more than 20,000 vehicles to business and personal customers across the UK.
For more information visit
www.flexiblevehicles.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56