CWU welcomes BT Fleet expansion

Telecoms & Financial Services September 12 2017

BT Fleet’s move into the mobile vehicle maintenance and servicing market has been warmly welcomed by the CWU amid hopes that the move will create new job opportunities for existing employees and further potential for CWU membership growth.

Following on from Fleet’s purchase of SEV Automotive and Plant earlier this year, 39 mobile technicians and their three managers were formally TUPE’d into Fleet on August 1.

Phase two of the integration will see more SEV employees based at its Sheffield and Washington offices formally transfer to Fleet in the coming months – with further plans to relocate the Washington office to BT premises at Harton Quays in South shields later in the year.

Fleet’s plans to provide a complete service, maintenance and repair (SMR) offering to both new and existing customers will also see the recruitment of 21 new mobile technicians this year alone – on top of the headcount expansion stemming from the 60 TUPE transferees.

CWU assistant secretary Brendan O’Brien said: “The CWU views this latest move by BT Fleet into a new business area as an overwhelmingly positive development that demonstrates the company’s determination to go for growth and expand its award-winning fleet management service.

“That can only be good news for existing CWU members at Fleet’s established network of 64 garages, as well as the transferring former SEV employees and the new mobile technicians who will be joining the company.

“The key message for our members is to make all the new people coming into Fleet welcome and, of course, to encourage them to join the CWU.”