Europe is Fraikin’s oyster
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Fraikin’s forward plan will also be helped by its enormous group purchasing power.
“We are getting much better at harnessing the whole of our European business,” says Backhouse. “For all of the top pan-European suppliers, we have pan-European agreements based on the total company volume. Renault is certainly part of our portfolio, but as a group it’s not one of our biggest suppliers. Iveco is naturally a major supplier because they used to own us, and DAF, Mercedes, and MAN are always there.
“When I came here our people were infatuated with Ryder, and I was asked if I was worried about the Ryder/Hill Hire deal. I am not interested in what Ryder is doing in the UK. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as a UK business. We are a European business of which the UK is one part. The fact Ryder bought Hill Hire makes them significant in the UK – but we have 65,000 vehicles in the Fraikin portfolio – that’s significant.”