Local Legal Firm Reduces Client Visit Costs by 23%
We helped a family-run law firm shift from expensive taxi accounts and personal car mileage claims to our app-managed fleet. Their 11 solicitors now book nearby Tesla vehicles directly for court visits in the North West.
Vance & Sterling LLP switched their court travel in the North West from private hire cars to Fanseek's electric fleet. By using our app-managed vehicles, the firm cut travel expenses by 23.3% in six months. This shift removed the administrative lag of monthly mileage claims and taxi receipt processing.
The challenge
Before February 2024, Vance & Sterling LLP relied on a mix of local taxi accounts and private car mileage claims for court visits. The firm's 11 solicitors frequently traveled to county courts in Birkenhead, St Helens, and Manchester. Sorting through 43 paper receipts and digital taxi invoices every month took their part-time administrator over 9 hours of manual work. Expense reconciliation was a slow process. In Q4 2023, the partners paid out £3,140 in business mileage claims alongside £1,890 in local taxi fares. Worse, several solicitors reported missing early morning court listings because pre-booked taxis simply failed to arrive on time. The partners needed a reliable way to get solicitors to hearings without maintaining a costly company fleet.
Our approach
We started in February 2024 with a brief route assessment. Our fleet coordinator analyzed their previous three months of travel logs to see when cars were needed most. We identified that Tuesdays and Thursdays were peak court days, requiring up to three vehicles simultaneously. We set up the Fanseek business portal for the firm. Our team of 3 onboarded all 11 solicitors onto the Fanseek app in one afternoon at their Cook Street office. Each solicitor uploaded their driving licence directly through the app, completing verification in under 12 minutes per person. There were no desks, no paperwork during the setup process. We allocated a dedicated parking zone near Chapel Street for quick access to three of our Tesla vehicles.
The solution
We delivered our digital fleet sharing system with instant access. The solicitors now use the Fanseek app to locate, reserve, and drive. They do not have to pick up physical keys or fill out paper logbooks; they simply unlock with their phone. Every vehicle is delivered with 99.2% battery, 99.8% electric, which allows the firm to meet local clean air zone requirements without paying daily charges. Drivers track every mile in the app automatically, which feeds directly into the monthly business invoice. To keep things simple, charging is included in our business rates. Solicitors use our in-car charge cards at over 14 public rapid chargers across the North West if they need a top-up during longer trips to Preston or Chester.
Results
Within six months of launch, Vance & Sterling LLP reduced their monthly travel bill from an average of £1,670 to £1,280. The administrative burden of tracking receipts disappeared, saving their office administrator 7.5 hours of monthly paperwork. Court attendance reliability rose to 99.5% as solicitors took control of their own schedules.
Timeline
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February 2024Route analysis and previous travel log audit
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March 2024App onboarding and licence verification for 11 solicitors
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April 2024First court runs to Birkenhead and Manchester
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August 2024Six-month financial review and mileage analysis
"We were skeptical about switching to electric cars because we didn't want solicitors getting stuck with flat batteries. It took about two weeks to get used to the charging apps, but having 99.4% battery and unlocking with our phone saved us over £380 in the first month alone."