Insight
by Ogilvie Fleet
issue 1 Spring 2026
Welcome to the first edition of Ogilvie Insight - where we take a look at what’s been happening at Ogilvie and the wider industry in the Spring of 2026.
Ashley Crookes | Sales and Marketing Director | Ogilvie Fleet
In this issue:
ONWRD join Ogilvie
We started the year with a bang, following the acquisition of ONWRD – a rental and mobility specialist based in Bedfordshire.
Our rental division has grown exponentially in the last decade and ONWRD will continue this momentum with a team of five with experts in rental and niche vehicles, supported by a dedicated office to serve customers in the south.
-
Downtime Management
Our maintenance team has been working hard behind the scenes to further improve our downtime processes, something that has been impacting the industry over the last 5 years.
The appointment of a downtime specialist, improvements in MiFleet and a focus on vehicle uptime has already reaped rewards with average days off the road falling by 17% and record vehicle uptime of 99.43%.
-
Future Leaders Programme
Since Nick Hardy took the reigns as Managing Director in July last year, one of his objectives was to further the incredible talent we have within the business.
The launch of the Future Leaders Programme is the first step towards this and a rigorous selection process supported by our training partners followed. The ten 2026 cohorts will be getting together at a launch event with our board of directors next month and we’re looking forward to sharing their progress with you.
Fleet News Awards 2026
March saw us nominated as Leasing Company of the Year and our success over the last decade means our fleet size puts us in the over 20,000 vehicles category.
Whilst this is fantastic for the business, it makes it incredibly hard to win given that we are up against leasing companies with as much as 10x our fleet size.
Nonetheless, a nomination is a great result and shows how our focus on customer service means we continue to punch above our weight.
Image: Jo Clark joined Kathryn Ryan on stage to present the Car Manufacturer Awards, including Best Large Car, awarded to the Audi A6 e-tron.
Celebrating our people
We recently celebrated both International Women’s Day and National Apprenticeship Week – two groups that have helped Ogilvie be as successful as it has over the last 40 years.
Women make up 55% of our team and some of our apprentices have gone on to have great careers throughout the business so it was fantastic to hear some of their stories.
-
Client feedback
At the end of the 2025 we conducted our first client feedback survey for some time to find out what we are doing well and, crucially, where we could improve.
We have always listened to client feedback and used it to guide our continuous improvement plans. Many of our biggest innovations have come as a result of client feedback over the years!
-
-
Customer Recommendation Score
Thank you to all those who completed the survey and we’re delighted that the results were overwhelmingly positive with an overall customer recommendation score of 9.3 out of 10 and some incredible personal feedback for our colleagues.
Our teams are already working on ways we can use this feedback to improve our offering in Q2 and beyond.
Changan visit
We started this year as we always have, by getting our sales and marketing teams from across the country together to round up 2025 and to make plans for the year ahead.
This time we were hosted by Changan in Birmingham, where some of their team gave us an overview of their models and targets.
We were blown away by the size of the operation in China – producing over 2.5 million cars annually, employing over 100,000 people and a head office the size of a small town!
We also had a play around with the Deepal S07 that includes some interesting technology.
-
Allstar
We have now formally launched our partnership with Allstar, which will help you pay for fuel and EV charging both on the road and at home.
Their range of products and services aims to make this as simple as possible and eliminates the buildup of receipts and queries that inevitably make their way to your desk.
Speak to your Area Manager for more information.
-
Great British Fleet Event
We also attended the Great British Fleet Event in April, a relatively small event at the MK Arena but there is always lots of good conversations had and connections made.
Its always a great event with suppliers and manufacturers in attendance and is followed by the Great British Fleet Awards - where we were shortlisted for two awards - Innovation in Customer Service and Innovation in Mobility
Another brilliant event for the Ogilvie team!
-
Manufacturer Visits
We’ve had lots of manufacturers visit our office this year already, showing off their latest models that are ready for launch.
Don’t forget if you want to book a demonstration vehicle, our team can help you out or you can make a request here.
Automotive tax changes
The start of the new tax year brings along its usual batch of changes to the fleet and wider automotive industry and this April was no different.
See below for some changes that may have implications on your fleet or your drivers.
(effective 6 April 2026)
-
Company Car Tax (Benefit in Kind - BiK)
Electric company cars (EVs)
• BiK rate increased from 3% to 4%
Low emission cars (1–75 g/km CO₂)
• Most bands increased by 1 percentage point
• Maximum BiK rate remains capped at 37% until at least April 2028
-
Company Vans: Benefit Charges
Van Benefit Charge
• Increased from £4,020 to £4,170
Van Fuel Benefit Charge
• Increased from £769 to £798
Zero emission vans remain nil rated for BiK
-
Vehicle Excise Duty (VED)
VED changes took effect on 1 April 2026
• Standard rate increased to £200
• EVs paying £10 first year rate, then standard rate
• Expensive Car Supplement threshold raised to £50,000 for EVs
-
Capital Allowances on Cars (Income tax businesses)
• Main rate Writing Down Allowance (WDA) Reduced from 18% to 14%
• Special rate pool remains 6%
• 100% First Year Allowance for new zero emission cars extended to April 2027
Note: For corporation tax businesses, these allowance changes applied from 1 April 26.
-
Car Fuel Benefit Multiplier
• Increased to £29,200
• Only affects employees who receive free private fuel for company cars
-
Fuel Duty
• No fuel duty change on 6 April 2026
• The 5p per litre cut remains in place until 31 December 2026
• Please note this date changed from 31st August, as announced on 20th May
Ogilvie ReLease
Its been just over a year since we launched Ogilvie ReLease and I am delighted with how many of our clients have taken advantage of the scheme.
We’ve delivered over a hundred premium, nearly-new vehicles across the country, allowing fleet managers to benefit from faster delivery times and often lower monthly rentals. For many drivers, it has also allowed them to drive a vehicle which was previously out of their driver grade.
At the request of many of our clients, ReLease has now also been opened up to MiSalarySacrifice drivers, and the take-up has been incredible. As always with our vehicles, they are inspected, serviced and valeted prior to delivery to give you and your drivers full peace of mind.
With demand for ReLease vehicles so high, we expect many more zero and low-emission vehicles to become available this year.
and finally…
Doddies Triple Crown
In March we supported the incredible efforts of former Scottish rugby international Rob Wainwrtight as he cycled over 800 miles from Melrose to Dublin.
We provided two support vehicles for Rob and the hundred of others cyclists on their four-day challenge which raised over £1.4million for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.
Insight
Contents
Issue 1 Spring ‘26
Click to return to an article: