The average British businessperson only manages to complete three hours and 50 minutes of constructive work each day with over half (51%) of office time devoted to fielding unnecessary emails and phone calls ultimately costing UK businesses £140 billion in lost labour costs.

Cadillac, the luxury carmaker, asked over 1,000 UK businesspeople about their office efficiency to mark the launch of its new ‘Backseat Boardroom’ initiative, which aims to increase constructive working by offering chauffeured Cadillac cars as mobile ‘think’ spaces that people can use to completely escape unnecessary office distractions.

Despite working the longest hours in Europe, nearly half (44%) of UK businesspeople say their most productive working occurs outside of the office on their journey into and out of work - with office distractions taking up an average of four hours 10 minutes every day.  

By only using 49% of the working day constructively office workers are wasting over 20 working hours a week - 960 hours a year - costing UK businesses £140 billion in lost labour costs. Worryingly, says Cadillac, (75%) of all UK businesspeople say they have suffered stress or ‘office rage’ caused by an overload of internal distractions.

The top five office distractions are:

• Reading and responding to unnecessary emails
• Surfing the internet for non-work related means
• Idle office gossip
• Malfunctioning computers
• Answering pointless internal phone calls

Although technology has undoubtedly improved the way people work, 71% of office workers believe they have now reached a ‘tipping point’ where people are shunning face-to-face, human communication in favour of hiding behind email communications.

Research found that 39% of all office emails travel less than 100 metres (from sender to recipient) resulting in 82% of businesspeople admitting they spend up to three hours a day reading and replying to internal communication. 

In an effort to increase British productivity, Cadillac is loaning out a fleet of its SRX cars for use as mobile ‘think’ spaces that can be used as meeting rooms or quiet contemplation spaces.

Cadillac’s Steve Catlin said: “In today’s business world, time is probably the most precious commodity and being caught up in unnecessary internal communication, which takes hours to deal with, is a frustrating distraction. We know that the inertia of travelling helps stimulate creative thinking so by offering businesspeople the opportunity to get away from their desks and into a luxury mobile meeting room we’re hoping we can help increase their productivity.”

The £5 gallon of petrol seems likely to be coming to a garage near you soon, according to the AA’s latest fuel price report prompting calls for Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling to scrap a planned 2p a litre fuel tax increase.

With pump prices at record levels and expected to increase further, the Chancellor announced in the March Budget that fuel duty would rise by a further 2p a litre in October - a rise deferred in the Budget.

But earlier this week there was speculation that fuel could reach £1.50 a litre by the summer, as UK average petrol and diesel prices continue to hit record highs propelled not only by soaring oil prices but the impact on supply of European refinery maintenance problems, says the motoring organisation.

Compared to a month ago, a litre of petrol costs about 2p more at 108.7p per litre and diesel has risen almost 5p to 118.9 pence per litre - the latter well over the £5 mark at £5.40.

With fuel costs now challenging vehicle depreciation as the single largest fleet-related cost for companies, Jaama managing director Jason Francis says tough management of fuel usage is essential to keep operating budgets in check.

He says that commercial vehicle and company car fleet operators must use every tool in their armoury to keep fuel costs under control and eliminate any unnecessary expenditure.

Jaama’s investment in its web-based Key2 Vehicle Management technology provides fleets with the most advanced fleet management system currently available and can access fuel transactions online from fuel card providers and match driver, vehicle registration number, allocated cost centre and direct incoming costs to the right centre.

Utilising the technology enables car and commercial fleet operators to:

• Compare actual MPG against expected MPG - vehicle manufacturers’ urban, extra urban and combined MPG figures are automatically imported from CAP Motor Research and target driver training for employees with a heavy right foot
• Identify fuel fraud - data imported from CAP highlighting model fuel tank capacity ensures that the purchase of fuel quantities greater than vehicle fuel tank capacity can easily be identified.
• Highlight if non-approved fuel is bought, for example super unleaded
• Automatically allocate costs and distribute exceptions to drivers, line managers and fleet managers.
• Identify mismatches by exception - i.e. fuel transaction registration does not match the system registration. Jaama’s system also recognises if a driver has a temporary hire car and apportions the fuel cost to the correct cost centre retaining the accuracy of the driver’s regular vehicle’s running costs.

Additionally, drivers can log their own mileage returns over the web or on an intranet site and be charged an accurate pence per mile figure based upon the actual cost of fuel for the vehicle. This encourages drivers to choose efficient cars to drive and fill up at cheaper filling stations.

And, even if generic fuel cards are used by business drivers, Jaama’s software can report on suppliers used by drivers, for example supermarket or premium brands that give driver points at the expense of a higher cost per litre.

Jaama managing director Jason Francis said: “All the evidence points to continuing significant fuel price rises. Fuel is one of the biggest expenses facing all businesses and it is essential that fleet bosses police purchasing and usage effectively so as to ensure budgetary control.”

Compared to this time last year when petrol cost 92.68p per litre, the average price is now 15.38p per litre higher, according to the AA.

Edmund King, president of the motoring organisation, said: “UK motorists are spending more than £10.2 million extra on fuel each day compared to last year. This is beginning to hit the economy with car dependent motorists cutting back on other expenditure.

“We will be sending the Chancellor a clear message to abandon his proposed 2p per litre increase in October. Families are having to reduce high street spending and businesses, low-income and rural drivers are becoming more vocal about the impact of high fuel prices on their financial well-being. The situation is dire now but will get worse with the £5 gallon coming to a garage near you soon.”

Nearly a fifth of pool car fleets may not be roadworthy, leaving businesses exposed to extra costs and legal action, according to RAC.

Rigorous vehicle checking of over 21,370 pool cars conducted by RAC examining engineers deemed 16% to be unroadworthy.

Almost 8% failed to have correct fluid levels underneath the bonnet, 14% did not have the correct tyre tread or tyre pressure, and 19% of vehicles did not have a full service history.

Adrian McCarthy, head of RAC vehicle inspections service, said: “It’s clear from our inspections that pool cars are often neglected or badly-maintained.

“With growing concerns over duty of care, especially with the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, companies should look carefully at whether procedures and policies are in place to successfully run a fleet of pool cars, and minimise the potential risk of an accident and avoid the risk of prosecution.

“Fleet managers of pool cars should find these results alarming, as their own vehicles could currently be at risk of incurring high costs and scrutiny from the Health and Safety Executive, especially as 65% of company vehicles are involved in road accidents

“Basic checks and maintenance should be carried out before and after each use of the vehicle, especially since our findings show that pool cars might not be undergoing regular servicing.

“This ensures the effective running of a fleet and reduces costs over the full life of each vehicle. Furthermore, the value of a vehicle significantly diminishes without a service history.

“RAC suggests that fleets of pool cars should be independently inspected at a minimum of every three months.”

Calls for the Government to reduce the price of diesel have been made by Jon Walden, the boss of Lex, Britain’s largest contract hire and leasing company, in an open letter to ministers.

In highlighting the fact that diesel is now more expensive in the UK than petrol - 20 years ago it was the reverse - and that the UK has the highest average price of diesel in Europe with the exception of Norway, Mr Walden writes: “Diesel engines are between 15-25% more fuel efficient than equivalent petrol engines and obviously there is a direct correlation between reducing fuel use and reducing CO₂ emissions. CO₂ emission reduction is very high on the Government’s agenda so why keep penalising the diesel driver?”

His letter was published as oil prices this week reached a new all-time high of $112 a barrel prompting warnings to motorists to prepare for even higher petrol and diesel prices.

The AA says that pump prices are typically rising by around 1p a litre every 10 days. The average UK price for a litre of unleaded petrol is now 107.9p with a litre of diesel costing 117.1p, according to the motoring organisation.

The Office for National Statistics says that during the 12 months to the end of March petrol and diesel prices jumped by 20.3%.

Lex runs more than 250,000 vehicles on behalf of over 30,000 companies and 70% of drivers taking delivery of a new car now choose a diesel.

Mr Walden added: “Figures from the contract hire industry in general suggest a similar take up of diesel, reinforcing the company fleet market which buys roughly one million new cars each year is playing a significant part in reducing its fossil fuel use.

“Based on this type of recognition and the fact that emission free hydrogen engines are realistically still 15-20 years away before they possibly go into full scale production surely the Government should close the gap between petrol and diesel immediately and not by putting up the price of petrol.”

Publicity orders as part of the sentence imposed on companies found guilty under the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act could be more damaging than fines potentially running into millions of pounds, according to law firm Norton Rose.

The Act makes it an offence if an organisation manages its activities in such a way as to cause a person’s death which amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organisation to the deceased.

While the actual punishments under the legislation, which was implemented earlier this month, have yet to be formally ratified, the Sentencing Guidelines Council has proposed a fine of up to 10% of turnover, publicity and remedial orders.

Norton Rise surveyed around 90 organisations and concluded that most large organisations should be able to withstand a financial hit of up to 10% of turnover but a number of respondents felt that the negative effects of fines that large could include staff redundancies and price rises in their products and services.

It is possible that the courts may allow fines to be paid over a period of time to mitigate these negative effects, says Norton Rose, but this could also significantly reduce not only the impact of the fine, but also the potential deterrence effect.

However, the firm added: “The new powers to impose publicity orders, whereby a company is forced to pay to advertise the facts surrounding its conviction, may be a considerable deterrent and could be more threatening to a company than a fine due to the adverse impact the publicity may have upon the company’s share price or its ability to attract future investment.

“Remedial orders forcing the company to take corrective measures in its organisation do not change the situation significantly from existing legislation. The remedial orders are felt to be a minor threat to companies as most would have already addressed the failings that led to the death long before the matter comes before the courts.”

THE UK could save almost £3 billion a year if businesses switch to ‘greener’ company cars, according to a new Energy Saving Trust study.

Research carried out by the independent environmental organisation has found that following the introduction of new Government tax breaks at the start of the 2008/9 financial year, if UK companies all choose vehicles with 120 g/km or fewer carbon dioxide emissions there could be:

• A £250 million saving for UK employers through reduced National Insurance contributions
• A £645m saving for UK employees through reduced benefit-in-kind tax contributions
• A £780m saving for UK employers through reduced fuel consumption
• A saving of £1.2bn on the fuel bill of company cars driven privately
• A reduction in transport emissions from UK company cars used on company business of around 1.9m tonnes per year
• A reduction in emissions from UK business cars driven privately of around 3m tonnes per year.

The findings form part of the EST’s new report, ‘Behind the Wheel II’. The study of 400 board-level executives at organisations across the UK found that only 7% of companies offered a financial reward to employees to choose a smaller, cheaper or lower carbon vehicle.

In addition, more than half of companies (51%) that provide cars do not have a corporate social responsibility (CSR) or environmental policy. And of those that do, only one third consider the environmental impact of the vehicles they provide.

The launch of the report forms the centrepiece of an EST campaign to encourage businesses with company car fleets to consider their impact on the environment.

With more than half of all new vehicles registered in Britain being company cars, Nigel Underdown, the EST’s head of transport advice, has called on organisations across Britain to act now and ‘green’ their company car fleets.

He said: “The reasons are there for all to see: running vehicles costs a lot of money and with fuel prices over £1 a litre it’s not going to get cheaper any time soon. In addition, companies in the business-to-business sector won’t get far when tendering for big contracts unless they can prove their environmental credentials.”

With tax breaks now available for driving cars that produce 120 g/km of CO₂or fewer, someone driving an average company car with emissions below that figure could see their tax burden cut in half.

Mr Underdown added: “I predict that 2008 will see a tipping point where offering - and choosing - low-emitting cars is the only sensible business option.

“120 g/km really is the magic number as far as people responsible for managing UK car fleets are concerned: implementing a green fleet policy could save an organisation with 50 cars up to £45,000 every year.”

Drivers’ lack of understanding of the links between CO₂, taxes and fuel costs could be hitting fleet budgets, according to a survey of more than 2,000 UK drivers for multi-marque fleet funding company Alphabet.

The results show that:

• Only 17% of drivers think that they will save money if they change their driving habits to produce less carbon dioxide.
• Just 15% of drivers plan to drive a lower-CO₂ car in future to save tax.

Mark Sinclair, director Alphabet, said: “Our survey suggests that eight out of 10 drivers are vague about the financial advantages of reducing CO₂. This implies that fleets are unlikely to benefit from cost savings offered by running more efficient vehicles unless they have strict policy guidelines in place to ensure that employees drive greener cars.”

For example, a driver who opts for a car emitting 145 g/km of CO₂ instead of a typical 165 g/km stands to cut their fuel use by 12% and their company car tax by 20%. Their employer would benefit from lower business mileage costs and National Insurance and, as a result of recent Budget changes, future savings through lower VED and from more advantageous writing down provisions on cars emitting less than 160 g/km of CO₂.

Mr Sinclair said: “It is clear that much more needs to be done to make drivers aware of the links between CO₂ and the costs of motoring - particularly the amount of fuel they use and the taxes they pay.”

Alphabet’s survey also asked drivers about the Budget’s changes to VED, and the results further highlight the fact that drivers do not focus on green issues around driving:

• 88% of drivers do not know how much CO₂ their car emits.
• 76% of drivers do not know what road tax band (A to G) their car falls into.
• 86% of drivers do not know how much more or less road tax they will pay next year as a result of the Budget.

Sinclair said: “The Government’s carbon tax strategy cannot appear credible when more than eight out of 10 drivers do not connect reducing CO₂ with cutting their tax bill. The Government must ask itself whether it is serious about curbing emissions or whether it is more interested in raising more revenue from motorists.”

Company directors and senior managers will find themselves under increasing scrutiny if work-related deaths happen as a result of gross corporate failures, following implementation of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act on Sunday (April 6).

Ahead of the Act’s introduction, fleet experts and safety organisations have been queuing to advise organisations to ensure they have in place robust policies and procedures to protect themselves against prosecution in the event of one of their at-work drivers being involved in a fatal road crash.

It is clear that the full weight of criminal law will be brought to bear on organisations in which standards have fallen far below what could have been reasonably expected, says the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

Meanwhile, Masterlease says that with juries involved in corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide cases being asked to consider the ‘attitude’ of an organisation towards risk, fleet and HR managers must review practice and policy as they can no longer take a reactive approach to health and safety. 

Although individuals will not be liable under the new law, prosecutions for corporate manslaughter (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and corporate homicide (in Scotland) will look into management systems and practices across organisations.

Roger Bibbings, RoSPA’s occupational safety adviser, said: “If anyone dies as a result of gross corporate failings, directors who do not take safety seriously enough will find themselves in the firing line. Those organisations that have not assured themselves that they have proper corporate governance of safety in place need to take action.”

An organisation found guilty of the new offence will be liable to an unlimited fine, possibly up to 10% of annual turnover averaged over the previous three years. A publicity order could be imposed and a court may also, through a remedial order, require an organisation to take steps to address the failures behind the death.

Gavin Jones, accident and rental service manager at Masterlease, said: “It is more important than ever that health and safety moves up the priority lists of all employers and becomes a part of the company culture.

“Companies that have a less stringent approach to fleet safety could find themselves facing serious charges if a driver is involved in a fatal road accident.”

Meanwhile, a surge in businesses taking steps to reduce their risk exposure in the light of the Act has been reported by fleet management company Arval.

Last October research by the company demonstrated that fleets were failing to implement at-work driving road safety measures on employees using their own cars on business.

Now, follow up research has highlighted that Arval’s message is getting through and some businesses seem to be taking steps to reduce their risk.

The new findings show that since the original ‘grey fleet’ research 46% of respondents are currently reviewing their fleet duty of care, and a further 22% have already completed a review. Of these 9% have not only completed a review but have already implemented the necessary changes. 

The primary area of concern for own vehicle business driving was insurance and the new research shows that some companies have responded to this as 6% more businesses are now checking that drivers of non-company vehicles driven on company business have the correct insurance. There have also been improvements with regards to MoT certificate checking and vehicle service checks.

Meanwhile, RoadSafe, the automotive industry-backed road safety organisation, says HR directors have a key role to play in corporate decision-making, but when it comes to actually managing fleets, safety concerns do not always translate into initiatives to improve road safety. 

It made the claim following research by Bosch into the uptake by fleets of electronic stability control. Thirty per cent of respondents reported that HR directors had a significant involvement in fleet management but, it seems, that although many believe it is important to ensure safe working conditions for employees by providing a safe vehicle, some are yet to take action.

RoadSafe’s Caroline Scurr said: “Whilst we are delighted to see that many fleets are taking their driving for work responsibilities seriously, there are still some managers sticking their heads in the sand. We encourage HR directors and other decision-makers who are yet to acknowledge the risks to take action now.”