Ireland's Publication for the refinishing & associated Industries
Menu

New driver safety and fleet solutions company

A leading driver safety and fleet solutions provider in Ireland and the UK, E-drive Solutions, today announced a merger with Universal Graphics, a specialist branding company, in a move that will create up to 40 new jobs over the next two years.

E-Drive.34-copy
Pictured L_R: are Simon Murray, Sales and Marketing Director, and Mervyn O’Callaghan, Managing Director, at the launch of new Irish fleet solutions company, E-drive Group.

The newly merged companies will now be known as E-drive Group and already the company employs 62 people in its offices in Waterford, Monaghan and London. A recruitment drive has started in order to fill the additional 40 new jobs which include full-time engineering positions for E-drive Group’s Ireland and UK operations, as well as full-time customer service, creative marketing, graphic design, and back-office support roles.

Commenting on the launch of E-drive Group, Mervyn O’Callaghan, CEO said: “Combining our driver safety and vehicle technology expertise at E-drive Solutions with the award-winning expertise of the branding specialists at Universal Graphics made perfect business sense.  Our individual teams were delivering and servicing the same cohort of clients so combining our services into a ‘one-stop shop’ solution offers unrivalled cost and resource efficiencies, which is exactly what our clients want.”

Already, E-drive Group has invested €1.3 million in world-class specialist equipment and IT systems. It has grown its employee base by a third and heavily invested in training across its UK and Irish operations. E-drive Group is also the only Irish-based company to have attained the 3M MCS warranty partner status, which testifies to its quality of service and delivery. The company is also a patron of FITAS, the accreditation scheme for setting industry standards for the installation of electrical communications equipment into vehicles.

O’Callaghan explained: “This is an exciting time for the new company. Given our core strengths and customer focus, we are in a unique position to deliver an unrivalled service to our clients through our considerable expertise and accreditation.”

As part of its business plan, E-drive Group will look to double its turnover to €10 million by 2016. A rapid expansion plan is already underway in the UK and mainland Europe, with 20 additional staff recruited in the past six months to service growing demand. While the company specialises in commercial fleet management services, E-drive Group expects major growth opportunities to come from providing ‘black box’ telematics and driver safety technology to both fleets and the insurance industry – something that is currently being rolled out by the major motor insurers in the UK as a means of reducing driver premiums.

Referring to the company’s growth strategy, O’Callaghan said: “The new corporate buyer realises that quality must not only be aligned with price but also compliance with corporate responsibility and increased legislation. Our investment in the latest technologies and equipment leaves us uniquely positioned as the only accredited company to effectively deliver nationwide solutions of exceptional quality across the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe. By managing the process from start to finish, we are in complete control of the quality and level of service our clients receive.

“We will also be launching a number of unique solutions focused on driver safety and insurance cost reduction in the coming months that we believe will transform both fleet safety and insurance costs,” O’Callaghan concludes.

E-drive Group had its first official outing showcasing its unique fleet offering at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham recently, promoting its range of driver safety and camera technology solutions along with its fleet branding offering. The show generated significant interest around E-drive Group’s anti-collision warning system – a technology that provides a visual and audio alert for drivers of potential dangerous situations or a potential accident.

E-drive Group is co-founded by technology expert Mervyn O’Callaghan and award-winning branding and design expert Simon Murray. Together, O’Callaghan and Murray offer a combined 25 years of expert consultancy and global experience. E-drive Group’s existing clients already include some of the largest brands, fleet operators, insurance companies, motor manufacturers and technology partners.