The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) said its membership grew by 15% last year as fleet managers sought out information about electrification.

The industry body said there were a series of factors behind the surge, including a growing awareness of the organisation.

Paul Hollick, AFP chair, said: “We’ve seen an increase in members right across the board, including both car and van operators, small and large fleets, and a wide diversity of suppliers.

“With the AFP now in its fifth year of operation since the merger of industry bodies, ACFO and the ICFM, there is a growing awareness across the sector of the energy that we bring to tackling fleet issues, our role as a voice for the industry, and the high level of practical assistance we provide.

“The latter is especially important as fleets continue on the road to electrification. We seem to be at a point in the process where much of the low hanging fruit has been gathered and we’re now into more of a process of grind.

“This is especially the case when it comes to vans, where a range of structural issues persist.

“Many of our new members are struggling in these areas, and looking for help and advice.”

Training had also been an important driver of membership, Hollick added, which was a crucial area given that the industry was suffering from a growing skills shortage.

“We’ve highlighted before that we believe an entire generation of high level fleet expertise will be lost through retirement in the next few years and this means that training the fleet managers of the future is crucial,” he said.

“We are continuing to grow both the number of people that we train and the variety of courses we offer.”

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