The Freight Transport Association’s Van Excellence scheme has reached its century – it has accredited its 100th fleet operator, Countrywide Farmers.

Since the Van Excellence scheme was launched in 2010, it has accredited a wide variety of van fleet operators, including many high-profile businesses such as BT Fleet, Balfour Beatty, British Gas, Sainsbury’s, West Midlands Ambulance Service and Network Rail.

Darren Moor, operations and compliance manager at Countrywide Farmers, said: “We are proud to be associated with the FTA and the Van Excellence Scheme. The accreditation demonstrates to our business, suppliers and customers that we are committed to delivering a first-class service across our transport operations and is a reflection of our customer service standard throughout our business.”

Mark Cartwright, head of vans at FTA, added: “Reaching the milestone of 100 accredited operators makes an important statement about the ambitions of Van Excellence.

"The scheme is here to stay as the most complete and robust measure of a van operator’s attitude towards compliant, safe and efficient running of their fleet.

"There is a lot more work to be done across the sector, but this landmark serves to prove that very many van operators take their corporate responsibilities very seriously and Countrywide Farmers is a perfect demonstration of this.”

Van Excellence was created in order to promote high standards of van operation and driving by accrediting operators against an industry code of good practice.

Operators register their interest and receive details of the Van Excellence Code, then present themselves for audit when they are ready.