Enterprise Car Club, part of Enterprise Holdings – the world’s largest car rental provider, operating in more than 90 countries – set out to persuade local authorities to replace their grey fleets with car club vehicles as part of a new environmental initiative. Whitehouse built a targeted stakeholder campaign that combined evidence-led briefings with high-level political engagement, helping Enterprise Car Club grow its local authority take-up and build a lasting network of political supporters.
The challenge
Local authority grey fleets – vehicles privately owned by employees or accessed through employee ownership schemes – carry a significant financial and environmental cost. Enterprise Car Club needed to make the case to local authorities that car club vehicles offered a better alternative, and to reach the right decision-makers across budget, environment, transport and sustainability policy.
Our approach
Whitehouse identified a cross-sector map of stakeholders able to influence local authority decision-making, then developed targeted briefings highlighting the £786 million spent annually on grey fleet travel, the 47,000 tonnes of CO2 it produces, and the air quality impact of an ageing private vehicle fleet. Whitehouse then organised a series of meetings with stakeholders across government, Parliament and local authorities – including a high-level roundtable at the Conservative Party Conference – showcasing the benefits already being realised by authorities using car clubs.
The outcome
Enterprise Car Club increased its take-up with local authorities and built a network of political supporters able to champion the benefits of car clubs to fellow councillors and politicians.
