Member Article

Tadea secure £114k for sustainable driving centre

North East sustainable project management and advice services firm, Tadea, has secured £114,750 of funding from the Let’s Grow Fund.

Tadea will open the Effective Transport Solutions (ETS) in February 2014, a company that will offer driver training packages to promote greener motoring.

Let’s Grow Fund is a Journal and Evening Gazette-led collaboration with BE Group and UNW LLP which provides grant support for capital investment and research and development projects creating or safeguarding jobs in the North East.

ETS will cater for all types of organisations with fleets of vehicles on the road – including grey fleets. From local authorities to road haulage firms, from the emergency services to the passenger transport sector, ETS can help organisations cut fuel costs, reduce emissions and keep employees safe behind the wheel

Gordon Pattie is the Transport Centre manager at ETS, said: “Fuel efficient driving can save a company 10 per cent on its fuel costs. That means that the courses pay for themselves within a matter of months – however, the savings they bring about continue to reduce motoring costs for years into the future.

“The associated safety techniques inherent in this type of training can save further revenue through reducing accidents and subsequent downtime of vehicles and staff. Health and Safety and Corporate Manslaughter legislation adds significant weight to the requirement for companies to provide their staff with adequate training.”

Two levels of simulator will be on offer from ETS’s base at the Future Technology Centre, next to the Nissan factory in Sunderland.

The base level simulators will deliver semi-immersed training using three screen technology and state-of-the-art simulation software. The higher specification simulators are housed in BMW Minis - these have wrap-around projector screens which provide a far more immersed training experience. Both types of simulator can switch between internal combustion engine and electric vehicle, maximising the training opportunities available.

Training in fuel efficient driving, adverse weather, hazard perception as well as electric vehicle familiarisation will be offered alongside other services such as fleet reviews, travel planning and carbon footprinting.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .