Heating and plumbing product manufacturer Intatec has changed its fleet of sales vehicles to hybrid as part of its sustainability plans for the future.
Intatec, based in Hixon, Staffordshire, decided to change over a dozen of its vehicles from diesel to hybrid as part of its commitments to the environment and the future.
The company, which has been running since 2002 and specialises in manufacturing anti-scald bathroom products and is a major supplier to the heating and plumbing industries, made the switch to the vehicles, which are more efficient to run and emit less greenhouse gasses, this autumn.
The move by the company comes from their plan to move towards being more carbon neutral, and also follows on from achieving their ISO 14001, an environmental management system, which it renewed two years ago, and their drive to create products which achieve the Water Efficiency Programme (WEP) standard.
Managing Director, Stuart Gizzi, said: “It was important for us to look at all parts of the business, and we wanted to ensure that our sales team, who can cover many miles in a week, were using vehicles which weren’t only efficient but would also be practical.
“We decided to go for the hybrid option rather than fully electric as we don’t believe there currently is a good enough charging infrastructure in the UK yet, so it wouldn’t be feasible, particularly for our colleagues covering some of the remote areas.
“I am on my second hybrid car now, both the same model and I can see how much improvement in range and economy there has been between the two in just that short time,
“ While electric power technology and particularly its charging infrastructure still has a long way to go still, the hybrid option is the one that best suits us and is in line with our company’s green plans for the future.
“Any business that has a sales force out on the road needs to look at its whole operation to minimise environmental impact, incorporating if it can use only electric or hybrid vehicles, but also hybrid meetings to meet the needs of its customers. We all need to adapt the way we work and people may discover, as we have, that the environmentally friendly option has also made a positive impact on personal taxation without compromising on a luxury company car. “
