Stephen Clegg | Topspeed
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Stephen Clegg founded Topspeed Couriers in 1985 and has spent the last four years (and roughly £4.2 million) ripping diesel out of a logistics business that moves dangerous goods, radioactive material, and time-critical government samples around the UK. He sits down with Paul and John — joined briefly by Webfleet's Richard Parker before technology has other ideas — to talk about what actually happens when you stop talking about sustainability and start spending money on it.
The conversation gets into the specifics most operators avoid: why carbon emissions go up before they come down, why a Carbon Reduction Plan is essentially accountancy with different units, and why the much-repeated line "you'll save money by going green" is closer to "we're going to the moon in ten years" than a business case.
Also covered:
- Winning a King's Award for Sustainability — and the team back at base who actually did the work
- Why maintenance costs dropped to roughly a quarter once the diesel vans left the workshop
- The shift to overnight, event-critical work and what that does to fleet utilisation
- Driving 15mph slower, the bonus scheme that makes it stick, and a 75% reduction in claims after rolling out AI-based driver and forward-facing cameras
- Public charging discounts that kick in when you're plugging in three or four times a day
- The smash advert theory of refined fuels (you'll need to hear it)
- One missing Volvo EX90, one nine-year-old Land Rover Discovery pressed back into service, and a verdict on 15-year-old in-cab tech
A useful listen for anyone running a van fleet who's been told the transition is too hard, too expensive, or too early — and for anyone who's been told it'll be easy.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-clegg-b0179242/
Website: https://www.topspeedcouriers.co.uk