Record numbers of employees with fleet responsibility have joined the ICFM in the first two months of 2018.

A total of 51 employees from a wide range of organisations operating company cars and vans and ‘grey fleet’ vehicles - privately owned cars driven on business journeys - have signed up to undertake ICFM training courses.

Many of the new recruits have end-user responsibility for company car and vans at their employees.

However, new ICFM members are also employed by organisations that work in the supply side of the fleet industry including at companies that have signed up to the training provider’s Corporate Investor Programme, which was launched in late 2016.

ICFM sales and marketing director Peter Eldridge said: “Businesses are increasingly acknowledging that there is a skills shortage in terms of the fleet management knowledge of their employees.

“Fleet management is almost certainly more complex today than it has ever been with a wide range of new issues impacting on the operation of company cars and vans and ‘grey fleet’ vehicles.”

He believes it is critical that employees either directly managing vehicles on behalf of their employer or involved in supplying fleet management products and services have a deep understanding of the issues, the background to them and the direction of travel.

“The ICFM is the only independent organisation that can provide training and insight to employees and enable them to make decisions confident in the knowledge that they have the skills to do so,” added Eldridge.