City Plumbing taps into Bevan Group build quality for new Luton fleet

City Plumbing has taken delivery of 51 Luton bodies from bodybuilder Bevan Group.

The order saw City Plumbing return to Bevan after a break of four years, in a move the company said was driven by the quality of the bodybuilder's products, its competitive pricing and its five-year warranty.

The bespoke Luton bodies sport the firm’s new full vinyl wrap liveries, applied by Elliott Signs of Castle Donington and are set on 3.5-tonne Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis supplied by Intercounty Truck & Van.

This model makes up most of City Plumbing’s 500-plus fleet of Lutons and panel vans.

City Plumbing, which is part of the Travis Perkins group, operates from its Northampton headquarters and has a network of more than 350 branches throughout the UK, serving the trade and DIY markets with products ranging from boilers and copper tubing to bathroom suites, towel rails and electrical parts.

The new vehicles, which come with 500kg Dhollandia column lifts with integral safety rails are being used for residential deliveries.

City Plumbing’s fleet operations interface manager Craig Kenyon said: “We depreciate our vehicles over seven years, so we need a body that can withstand rigorous use over that entire lifespan. We still have Lutons on the fleet that left the Bevan Group factory 10 years ago and look great to this day.”

He added: “Bevan’s five year-warranty represents a commitment that we value highly. It's reassuring to know that the manufacturer is prepared to stand by its products and processes to such an extent.”

City Plumbing also benefits from Bevan Group’s aftercare service which provides round-the-clock emergency back-up for all of its vehicle bodies, as well as ancillary equipment.

A consultative design process between customer, bodybuilder and dealer ensured that the latest vehicles were specified to meet the firm’s need to load and unload pre-plumbed hot water cylinders, which cannot be laid down or tilted during transportation.

The Sprinter 314 CDIs are powered by 2.1-litre engines that produce 143hp and 330Nm of torque.

All are rear-wheel drive long L3 variants, with the sole exception of a medium-length L2 with front-wheel drive, which is now working from City Plumbing’s depot in Oban, on Scotland’s west coast. Its six-metre length makes it economically viable as it falls under the ferry operator’s light goods vehicle rate

Kenyon added: “Sales Director Roy Shelton and his colleagues were confident they would get our builds so they saved us some production slots, and the vehicles were ready when we needed them. The fact that this was achieved against the backdrop of the pandemic reflects the quality of the relationships between our two companies.”