The South East’s largest furniture store, Fishpools, has taken delivery of four new 7.5 tonne Extra Light Renault Midlum 180.08s, with Optitronic automated gearboxes. The Euro 5 trucks have been fitted with 6.7m Carbofont box bodies by commercial vehicle body builders, Hunter Vehicles. Supplied through Renault Trucks distributor, Norfolk Truck and Van, they are the first Renaults to join the company’s fleet of Mercedes and Ford.
The Renault Midlums will be used to transport furniture for Fishpool’s home delivery service, from its warehouse in Hertford mainly to customers in all the Home Counties and into London, plus further afield with web orders from its online shopping facility as well as existing customers.
Sean Dudley, Warehouse Manager, Fishpools, says: “The Renault Midlum Extra Light allows us to use a larger box body on a smaller truck, meaning we have the same fuel efficiency as larger trucks but with greater manoeuvrability in residential areas, tighter turning circles and better payload. We were attracted by the Optitronic gearbox because as we increase our distribution, we need to keep fuel costs down. We are hoping to see fuel savings as well as improved driver comfort for the longer distances being travelled. We are so pleased, however, with the new Renaults so far that we are looking to replace our smaller 3.5 tonne Fords with Renaults in the near future.”
Fishpools is a family business established in 1899 by Ernest Fishpool as a small clothes and furniture shop in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. The company continued to expand over 110 years and now boasts a 62,000 square foot showroom, selling over 200 styles of sofa, 150 ranges of dining tables and chairs, 100 beds and over 75 ranges of bedroom furniture. Having outgrown its three storage areas in New Ford Road, the warehouse operation moved to its current location in Hertford 18 months ago, giving the company the opportunity to have all its warehousing in one location, introducing high bays, computerised stock locations and forklift picking.
Hunter Vehicles are commercial vehicle body builder and road transport engineers. The company is an independent family business, established in 1956 and bought by its current directors (who all served apprentices at Hunters) in a management buyout in 2006. Services include new and used commercial vehicle sales, daily and contract van and truck hire, commercial bodyshop, accident and repair centre and mechanical and tachograph workshop.
