Question Time style debate to tackle hot fleet issues at Silverstone Fleet Show.
The new-style session will debate issues such as the future of the sector, the impact of a potential Brexit, company car taxation and the economy. It will be chaired by John Pryor, chairman of the Association of Car Fleet Operators, who took over as head of ACFO in 2014 following a long and distinguished career as a fleet manager, including 25 years at Arcadia Group. The expert speaker panel will include Colin Tourick, Grant Thornton professor of automotive management at Buckingham Business School, and a well-known fleet management consultant, specialising in the automotive fleet and asset finance markets. He will be joined by Andrew Miller Chief Technical Officer for Thatcham Research who with an engineering background and over 25 years’ experience in design and development, leads Thatcham’s work in three areas: safety and crash performance, repair technologies and vehicle security. He is also President of Euro NCAP, and has a wealth of knowledge and experience about the latest safety technology and duty of care.
Also in the expert line-up is Professor Nick Reed, academy director from the Transport Research Laboratory. A TRL employee since 2004, Professor Reed has championed work in the area of vehicle automation, culminating in his technical leadership of the GATEway (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment) project – a flagship government project to investigate the implications of automated vehicles in an urban environment.
The Government, meanwhile, will be represented by Ros Wall, Head of Environmental Strategy at the Department for Transport, where she is responsible for the Department’s overarching approach to CO2, air quality and wider environmental considerations. And completing the expert panel is Toby Poston, director of communications and external relations at the BVRLA, which represents the interests of more than 2m business cars drivers and the millions of people who use a rental vehicle each year.
Between them, the expert line-up will debate some of the hottest topics in fleet in a special question and answer session from 11.00am in the mezzanine area of Hall 2.
Show director, Jerry Ramsdale, said: “Everything is now in place for the most complete event in fleet. “We have now confirmed our line-up of fleet experts for the new interactive Question Time fleet debate which will address some of the very latest topics that are energising the country’s fleet managers. “There also promises to be more cars for driving than ever before, boasting the very latest technologies. And we are thrilled with the support from fleet service companies for this year’s Show with a variety of innovations and new launches. “Even the weather gods look to be on our side with some glorious, sunny conditions forecast,” he said. “This year’s Show really does offer something for everyone in fleet and we believe it fully justifies a day out of the office for fleet decision-makers in a not-to-be missed opportunity,” he added.
This year’s event will certainly offer something for everyone. Some 21 vehicle manufacturers will provide up to 300 new cars for test driving – many of them first drives anywhere in the UK. Fleet decision-makers will have a choice of three separate circuits of the world-famous Silverstone Grand Prix track on which to evaluate them; the National, International and Stowe circuits – plus a road route in the locality. At the same time, no fewer than 44 fleet service companies will be attending the exhibition side of the event, which is being held over three halls of the state-of-art Silverstone Wing. Suppliers covering every aspect of the fleet industry will be exhibiting and there will be an abundance of new launches and innovations on display.
The exhibition area will also provide Show visitors with plenty of opportunity to hold face-to-face meetings, to network and to socially interact with exhibitors and other visitors alike. Last year’s Fleet Show attracted higher numbers of top quality fleet decision-makers than ever before – up 25% on the previous year – and the audience has increased in size every year since the inaugural event in 2011. This year, the audience will be audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) for the first time to give a clear and auditable record of the number of fleet decision-makers attending the event.
Registration for this year’s event is now open and progressing well. Details of how to register can be found here: http://thefleetshow.co.uk/visitors.
For more details of the Fleet World Fleet Show 2016, please visit http://www.thefleetshow.co.uk or phone 01727 739160.
