Devon-based Lightfoot appoints Paul Hollick as new MD
Lightfoot, the trail-blazing, in-cab, driver fleet coaching technology and rewards platform, has announced that Paul Hollick, Chairman of The Association of Fleet Professionals, has been appointed as Managing Director at the Exeter-based, Devon green-tech business.
The former MD of Miles Consultancy Limited joins the business at an exciting time following Volpi Capital’s investment in Lightfoot last year. This is enabling the rapid development of a suite of new products and services that will be made available to ICE and EV fleets domestically and internationally.
Welcoming him to the business, Rupert Lyon Taylor, Chief Executive Officer at Lightfoot, said: “Paul is an industry heavy hitter, an influential voice in the sector. His experience, expertise and connections with senior decision makers will not only accelerate our ambitious growth plans but will also help us to put the decarbonisation of fleets further up the corporate agenda.”
Commenting on his appointment, Paul Hollick said: “Volpi Capital’s investment in Lightfoot is a game changer. It provides the business with a level of investment that enables us to take our market-leading driver engagement technology to new heights. We’re focused on a future where the driver sits at the heart of transforming the way vehicles are driven, where the emphasis is on getting the most from employees through behavioural telematics, rather than focusing solely on the asset that they drive.
“We achieve this by giving drivers a reason to change the way they drive for the better. By winning hearts and minds through gamification, league tables and prizes, Lightfoot is transforming hard-baked driver habits using reward, rather than after-the-event reprimand, to effect positive change.”
Radically different to anything else available on the market, Lightfoot’s in-vehicle dashboard-mounted device works together with the Lightfoot reward app. This shows where drivers rank in leagues, and rewards those hitting the target Elite Driver level by unlocking access to a host of prize draws. This includes The Drivers’ Lottery, where drivers can win up to £100 each week and have a one-in-ten chance of winning cash prizes.
As a result, Lightfoot’s fleet management solutions have transformed the concept of driver engagement, which has been shown to directly improve driver safety and performance, leading to engagement levels in excess of 60%. Conventional telematics, by comparison, struggle to achieve engagement levels higher than 5%.
Recognised for its disruptive, driver first approach, which reduces workloads for fleet managers, Lightfoot has ambitious growth plans. These include targeting the UK’s largest fleets, building on its success with major players including Asda and Tesco, and expanding internationally.
Operations are already under way for customers in Germany, and Lightfoot plans to roll out its real-time, in-cab driver coaching and rewards platform to the EMEA markets, before planning further international expansion.
Looking to the future, Hollick believes that one of the most exciting aspects of Lightfoot’s trail-blazing technology is that it is EV-ready on multiple levels: “Lightfoot ICE drivers come ready-conditioned for EVs because our technology encourages smoother, less aggressive driving, and that gives fleet managers greater certainty of range reliability, aiding accurate routing and delivery schedules.
“On top of that our rewards platform incentivises good home-charging habits, helping to keep costs down, while also avoiding unproductive work-hour charging, which is a major headache for many operators. Most importantly, we enable fleets to accurately reimburse employees at their domestic electricity rate, which no other provider can do. That’s the beauty of our behaviour-led, advanced telemetry EV solution.”
As for the more immediate future, Lightfoot is centred on helping fleets cut their existing fuel bills and emissions.
“Right now, fleets are feeling the intense pressure of rapid fuel price rises at the pump due to global events,” says Hollick. “Squeezing every mile out of every vehicle has never been more important, and that’s exactly what our technology enables. More than that, it also delivers the decarbonising of fleets right now. This is critical as the unavoidable truth is that the transition to EV will take years, but positive change through reduced carbon emissions needs to happen today. This is where Lightfoot delivers, making us the sustainable partner for fleets looking to reduce their overall CO2, both now and in the future.”
Proven to cut CO2 and fuel use by up to 15%, Lightfoot’s driver-first approach engages and enables drivers to transform the way they drive for the benefit of the planet and themselves.
Effective in both ICE vehicles and EVs, Lightfoot enables vehicles to travel further on one tank or one charge, all through positive driver engagement, rewards, and in-cab coaching. Lightfoot also reduces at-fault accidents by up to 40%, and wear and tear costs by as much as 45%. It is this rich combination of benefits and savings that is causing CFOs and CEOs to sit up, take notice, and take action.
