Episode 94: Liz Allan and Colin Boyton - The Past, Present, and Electric Future of Greenfleet and the EV Rally.

Episode 94: Liz Allan and Colin Boyton - The Past, Present, and Electric Future of Greenfleet and the EV Rally.

Liz Allan speaks to Colin Boyton, the dynamic events manager at Greenfleet. As Greenfleet celebrates its 25th anniversary, they explore its evolution from a pioneering magazine to a beacon of progress in the transportation sector. They discuss the milestones that have revved up the industry, from the inaugural Greenfleet Awards to the impactful Electric Vehicle (EV) rally in Scotland that captured global attention during COP 26. Colin discusses the camaraderie of the rallies, the industry accolades, and the challenges and triumphs of introducing an EV culture to fleet managers and petrol heads alike. Colin shares the inside track on the electrification of fleets, the growth of electric HGVs, and the sensational upcoming A to Z EV  rally. 

Colin Boyton Bio
 As the influential Events Manager at Greenfleet, Colin Boyton has dedicated himself to advancing clean and sustainable transportation solutions through innovative events and hands-on experiences. With over two decades in the industry, Colin brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for sustainable mobility, playing a pivotal role in transforming fleet operations towards greener alternatives.  With dedication, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of cleaner transport solutions, Colin Boyton remains a cornerstone of Greenfleet's mission and a guiding voice in the movement towards a more sustainable future.

Colin Boyton LInks:
Greenfleet EV Rally Website: https://www.ev-rally.co.uk
Greenfleet Awards Website: https://events.greenfleet.net/greenfleet-awards
Greenfleet GF100 Website: https://gf100.greenfleet.net
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%94%8Bcolin-boyton%F0%9F%94%8B-931a4213


Episode Keywords:
Greenfleet, PSI Group, cleaner transport solutions, G

Transcript

Liz Allan [00:00:03]:

Right. On today's podcast, I have the one and only Colin Boyton.

Liz Allan [00:00:12]:

Hello. Hello. No. He's he's the events manager at Greenfleet. Looks after the Greenfleet EV rally. He's just does so many things. I don't actually know how you've managed to fill it all into your day, Colin.

Colin Boyton [00:00:24]:

No. Who do I?

Liz Allan [00:00:27]:

Thank you for joining me. It's absolutely brilliant to see you. I've been trying to get you on here for at least 12 months now, haven't I?

Colin Boyton [00:00:34]:

Yes. You have. And, thank you for your perseverance.

Liz Allan [00:00:38]:

Well

Colin Boyton [00:00:39]:

It was, I think when when you and I first touched base last year, I think I was sort of deeply entrenched in the prep for the rally. So, it was a rather rather busy time. It's, a little bit quieter at this stage. It's gonna start ramping up very shortly as we as we get ready for the 24 version, but, we'll we'll come on to that in a bit. But, no, thanks for having me.

Liz Allan [00:01:00]:

Hey. No. It's brilliant. And I'm I'm always very patient. Well, as my husband, you might find that he might say something different, but, mostly, I am very patient, and it's brilliant to have you on here. Thank you. So so let's start off. So you've been working so so Greenfleet is part of PSI Group, isn't it?

Colin Boyton [00:01:18]:

Yeah. PSI is a a we're a media company. So we started our life back in 1994. Okay. I joined in 95, and at that time, we were publishing 1 magazine for local and central government, and that was it. And my role within the business at the time was to sell advertising space in the magazine. We then added an education title and then a, a health title, so an NHS title, And those sort of grew over the space of sort of 7, 8, 9 years. And then we decided, and it's a natural progression for many publishers certainly back in the sort of late nineties, early noughties, was to move into events.

Colin Boyton [00:02:07]:

So we bought an existing title which had already been put on the back burner which was Greenfleet. It was a magazine already, but it was a little bit before its time back in 1995. I

Liz Allan [00:02:21]:

can imagine.

Colin Boyton [00:02:22]:

Going on in in the green space. I'm I'm going back to the days of LPG and and and things like that. So but my chairman sort of saw a bit of vision and saw where this could potentially go. So he bought the title. We gave it a new look, and relaunched the magazine, in 1990 5. No, sorry. In 2005. Yeah.

Colin Boyton [00:02:47]:

2005 we relaunched the mag. And at the same time we staged our first ever event as PSI, which was the Greenfleet Awards.

Liz Allan [00:02:58]:

You said how long it's been going for? Greenfleet Awards. Yeah.

Colin Boyton [00:03:01]:

So it's our 20th anniversary this year. I was just it's it's the big year for us, as the events department, for Greenfleet. The brand, Greenfleet, is is, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Liz Allan [00:03:17]:

So so okay. So give me some background to to green so for those that don't don't know about Greenfleet, give me some background to to what Greenfleet is. Obviously, it's media, and like you said, you've got it was a magazine originally, but what was the basis behind it?

Colin Boyton [00:03:35]:

I I guess the basis behind it was some somebody had this vision that transport in the UK needed to clean up. So there were some of the vehicle manufacturers were beginning to bring out, sort of new technology such as LPG, And the the the role of Greenfleet, if you like, was to act as a sort of a a a middleman, for want of a better phrase, between those that produce the technology and those that use the technology. So the fleet manager and the transport manager at one end, and getting them talking to those that can help them with cleaner solutions. So that's what Greenfleet started as. Many of the public sector fleets were the early adopters, so local authorities predominantly, and some of the government agencies like the Environment Agency, they started to switch over to LPG. And and, at the time, Toyota had just come to market with the Prius. So this is when we first started to see the hybrid technology start to creep in. So we, as I said, we launched we relaunched the magazine, and we decided to introduce the, the Greenfleet Awards to recognize the manufacturers that were producing the stuff, the organizations that were offering services to, fleet managers such as telematics and leasing and and whatever else, and also then to, the fleets themselves.

Colin Boyton [00:05:03]:

So it was the fleet managers and the organizations that were already trying to introduce the technology into their transport operations. We felt they needed a bit of recognition, and that would then hopefully sort of help the whole thing start to build some momentum. So that was 2,005. We then staged in 2,006 our first ever event where fleet managers could come along and get what I call that sort of touch, taste, feel experience, which is getting behind the wheel of the vehicle and actually putting it through its paces. So, we had an event called the green fleet arrive and drive, where effectively fleet managers arrived at the venue, and then all they did was drive all day long, testing out different cars, vans, whatever else. We ran it in Silverstone in its 1st year, in 2006, and then we switched over to a new circuit that had opened at the time called Rockingham, which is in Corby in Northamptonshire. Yeah. And it worked really, really well.

Colin Boyton [00:06:04]:

We we sort of spent, 2 or 3 years developing the event and growing it, more and more manufacturers coming in each year, as they started to bring vehicles to market. So, we very quickly sort of carved ourselves out a nice little niche in in the sort of fleet media space. There was already a couple of magazines already in the space, but they were very, sort of generic fleet titles. They're both still in existence today. Whereas we focused purely on the clean and green end of of fleet management. And that's how we grew the brand. As we developed in 2009, we were approached by the Scottish government who said, look. We've been watching the arriving driver at Rockingham for a few years.

Colin Boyton [00:06:54]:

We need to do something up here north of the border. Can can you come and help us? So we had a series of meetings, and in 2009, we launched Greenfleet Scotland. And I'm pleased to say that this year will be our 16th year, working with Transport Scotland to help them sort of what we wanna try and do is provide a platform for the Scottish government to reach out to the Scottish business community and say, look, guys. This is our strategy. This is where we need to get to, and we need you to sort of come on this journey with us. And then Greenfleet provides that sort of, as I said, that sort of middleman, scenario where the fleet managers in Scotland get to talk and and and liaise with those that have solutions for them to get to, effectively, what will hopefully be a net zero status at some point in the future.

Liz Allan [00:07:45]:

Yeah. So so when did, when did electric start featuring then?

Colin Boyton [00:07:50]:

I think for again, going back to Rockingham. I think we were at Rockingham from 2,007 through till about 2014, 2015. And Vauxhall were, trying to come to market with a car called the Ampera. And it was my sort of halo product. That was the one I wanted. And, for for 2 years that we'd heard about this car coming to market, The guy from Vauxhall would come along to the event, and he'd say, next year, Colin, I'll be here. I promise as soon as it's ready, I'll be here. And and to be fair, he was.

Colin Boyton [00:08:27]:

So Ampera came, and then I think Mitsubishi came to market with a a small electric car called the IMEI V Right. Which I think for those that aren't involved in our space and aren't involved in EV, there's many people out there that still have this misconception that, you know, electric cars are these little bubble cars that sort of poodle around making no noise. And Well,

Liz Allan [00:08:51]:

I can

Colin Boyton [00:08:52]:

imagine. And that, to be fair, that's exactly what this thing looked like. And Citroen and Peugeot had a rebadged version of the IMEI. But for me, the game changer was was the LEAF, Nissan coming to market with the LEAF, the 1st generation LEAF. That was when we started to notice a big shift, and a big sort of percentage of our fleet audience that read Greenfleet and came to Greenfleet events. They were starting to look at the EV space, and and it was Nissan, really, for me that that sort of kick started it all. They formed the alliance, obviously, with Renault. Renault very quickly followed up with the Zoe.

Colin Boyton [00:09:33]:

So it's 2 small cars, really, that, in my opinion, changed the space, and the thinking and the mindset of of fleet managers. And then it was a question of, you know, how do fleet managers then start to look at, you know, when when they've got, I don't know, a BMW 3 series is arguably one of the most popular fleet cars there's ever been, and probably still is. I don't know without checking my stats, but, how do we how do how do they, organizations satisfy their company car drivers who are used to driving, say, a 3 series BMW, asking them to switch over to a Renault ZOE's just not gonna watch? Yeah. So it was then reliant on the fleet on on, sorry, on the vehicle manufacturers to then come to market with more viable fleet solutions. And then, obviously, a man on the other side of the pond by the name of Elon Musk popped up with the the Model S, and that then was the game changer, wasn't it? I think everybody agrees it was Tesla, coming to market with a Model S and, you know, where where Nissans were doing sort of 75, 80, 90 miles range, and he was coming out with 250 odd mile range, it was like, well, how's he doing it? And, yeah. And I think when when when his battery technology became widely, available and other manufacturers sort of assessed what was going on and how he was doing it, then very very quickly the momentum started to build. And I think over the last 5 or 6 years, what the manufacturers have done, in my opinion, is is nothing short of incredible. The the electric car's well here now as as we know.

Colin Boyton [00:11:23]:

It's here. It's not going away, and it's just gonna continue. It's now the biggest stuff that we we will start to focus on as Greenfleet. And, again, we'll we'll come on to that when we talk about the rally. But, yeah. I would say the last 6 or 7 years is is where the the EV thing has really sort of been the most prominent talking point at briefly events.

Liz Allan [00:11:49]:

Yeah. And what would you at the moment then, obviously, things like you're saying, things have kind of moved on a lot, haven't they, in the last few years? And I must I I'm assuming that fleet adoption for cars is, like you say, easier than for vans and trucks. Mhmm. But what what do you reckon? What's happening? Is there being a is there more of a shift now? Obviously, we've got to decarbonize anyway, aren't we, in the UK? But are you seeing more of a shift towards, you know, kind of electric vans and trucks and things like that compared to to what it was with regards to just if it's all cars, if that's all you've got, then that's all you're gonna be able to go for, isn't it? Because the fleet managers are just getting that. Are you seeing more adoption, you know On

Colin Boyton [00:12:34]:

on the commercial side, for

Liz Allan [00:12:35]:

sure. Yeah.

Colin Boyton [00:12:37]:

And again, I think to be fair I'm I'm sure if we asked our friend, our mutual friend mister Kirby, is is there enough going on? He'd argue no. And and to an extent, I'd make him right. But I think where the car the electric car thing sort of took a while to sort of get going. And and it was only when the all of the manufacturers had at least one model, available in in sort of 4 bev format that things sort of gather pace at, at a very good rate. I I think the shift on the van side of stuff will happen much quicker than the car. There are already, like, I don't know, probably about a dozen different makes and models that you can buy as a as a or lease as a fleet manager in terms of electric vans. And then it's the the next stage on from that is is obviously the big boys, the trucks. And, again, I think I think the the technology's there now.

Colin Boyton [00:13:35]:

They know that they can produce this stuff. For me, there's the the it's it's the other end now. It's the charging, that that, will help shape how quick, the adoption is on on the commercial vehicle side. But, from our point of view, our big focus is is definitely over the coming years, will definitely be on cars, on vans and trucks. We're not sort of saying that the car thing's done. Far from it. There's still a lot of education needs to go on, and that includes fleet as well as consumers, but in in in our space. Yeah, there's loads of fleet managers out there that still haven't focused or given any attention at all to electrifying their fleet, it'd be it car, van, or truck.

Colin Boyton [00:14:24]:

So we you know, there's still a role for us to play, and the likes of yourselves and and all the good people that we work with in our space. There's a lot of work still to be done, and, but I think, you know, through collaboration and all of us sort of pulling in the same direction, we'll we we will get there. Definitely.

Liz Allan [00:14:43]:

So why right. You just said just prompted prompted this question. You've just said that lots of fleet managers are not not moving over. Why do you why do you have you had feedback from these fleet managers to say why that might be? Is it because there's a lack of confidence in the vehicles? Is it a lack of confidence in the infrastructure for the charging? What what's or is it is it all of the above?

Colin Boyton [00:15:10]:

I think it's a mixture of all of the above for sure, Liz. Yeah. You know, for me, range anxiety now is just not a thing. It's not. It it you know, the the the vehicles are more than capable of doing it. It's change anxiety. That's what it is now. You know, people are scared of change, and, all we can do is just keep, you know, banging the drum and, reaching out and and and trying to educate these people.

Colin Boyton [00:15:38]:

And, I think the best way of doing that is, you know, it's all well and good coming along and and hearing some of the wonderful minds that we've got in this industry and and some of the experience that, you know, people like Lorna can share. But, there's no doubt about it. Getting people behind the wheel, that's where, we have seen the massive shift is is that, as I said, that sort of touch, taste, feel experience. So I think from that point of view, we need to keep doing that. But, yeah, you're right also. So it it is the charging. It's the infrastructure out there. We know it's good.

Colin Boyton [00:16:13]:

Between us, we know it's good, and it's only gonna get better. But that again, I think that is one of the big reasons that fleet managers are still reluctant to, sort of look at getting rid of their traditional, combustion engine vehicles and and and making that sort of transition over. And then you've got the drivers as well. You know, it's not just about you know, the fleet manager may be convinced, but then it's convincing wife and man, isn't it? You know, I've been driving a diesel van for 20 years. What do I drive electric for? Well, you know, that's part of, again, what the rally does is it it allows businesses that take part in the rally to educate their staff internally, by changing their driver line up and and and things like that.

Liz Allan [00:17:03]:

And that's what we need, isn't it? We need you know, it's it's about getting outside that kind of that, that talking shop, you know, where we there's no point in just us talking about this. Is there? No. It's like, you know, trying to get the word out to everybody else. So this is another reason for the for the podcast as well. So that could try and reach out to other people who who aren't necessarily thinking about it. But actually, that when they hear me talking to you, you know, and people like you, hopefully, get some thinking about it. Because a lot a lot of people, it's not necessarily on their radar yet or it's on their negative radar because of the because of the media attention that it's had. Because we all know, and I've said this so many times on the podcast before, the media like negative clicks because negative clicks we we are as a country and I'm sure it's not just the UK we're very you know we like this negativity don't we we like to find out all the juicy gossip on this, that, and the other.

Liz Allan [00:18:04]:

You know, we just we just need to try and get out there and and sort of, you know, counter all that rubbish with some right. Okay. Have you actually sat in an EV or have you sat in a truck? Have you sat in a van? Have you done these things? Don't just talk about it if you've not actually sat in 1.

Colin Boyton [00:18:22]:

Well yeah. And and, again, going back to 2017, 2018, we have we have another brand in house here called Evolution. And Evolution is our consumer facing EV motor shows that we do. So we we we get commissioned by either local authorities or regional government or or authorities, and and and even in the case of Transport Scotland, national government, where they they, you know, they wanna reach out to consumers and and educate them on EV. And I kinda got to thinking back in 2016, the the hardest sort of, collection of consumers that we're gonna have to try and influence is your hardcore petrol head.

Liz Allan [00:19:08]:

Yeah.

Colin Boyton [00:19:08]:

You know, those that love the the the stink and the noise of a of a Mustang or whatever it might be. And, I was thinking at the time, Formula 1 has got Formula E now. And then the next big race series in the UK is British Touring Car. And these are cars that people can relate to. You look at a British Touring car and, yes, it's got numbers and stickers and sponsors all over it. But the bare bones of it is a car that you would see on the road every day, albeit a race version of it. So I literally pinged an email over to the organizers of the British Touring Car Championship and said look this is who we are. This is what we do.

Colin Boyton [00:19:51]:

Formula E has come along as a sort of a an electric version of Formula 1. At some point this technology is going to start creeping into your sport. Could we come along to one of your race weekends and have a variety of EVs on display and potentially available for test drive for the race fans? Because these are your hardcore petrol heads. And within 10 minutes, the head of PR for a British Touring Car was on the phone. So, yes, we love this. What can you do? So what it ended up with, is we staged an evolution of Brands Hatch, in 2017. And we, I mean, you you you'll probably remember go ultra low which was the scheme, which was sort of part industry and part government funded. I approached them and said, look.

Colin Boyton [00:20:41]:

You know, how do you feel about backing this? And and to be fair to them, they did. And we we created a a 100 meter by 40 meter outdoor arena of all these different EVs on display. And we had a separate car park with a load ready for test drive. And at Brands Hatch touring car weekend, the race itself unused half the circuit. I was given use of the other half. So we were able to say to these hardcore petrol heads, don't knock it till you've tried it. Go and take an EV around the Grand Prix loop of of brands. And John Curtis was with me and, doing his bit to camera as he always does with us.

Colin Boyton [00:21:22]:

And and what we were getting John to do was to interview the people before they got in the car and then interview them again when they got out. And, honestly, some of the footage we got was was absolutely priceless. There was one guy that sprung to mind who he got out of the EV after his drive, and his response was, wow. I can't believe these things can do what they do. I drive a Porsche as my everyday car at the moment. I'm now gonna stick that on the side of my drive. I'm going to go out next week and order myself an EV, and my Porsche will now become my weekend car. And that for me is proof that if you get people behind the wheel and they get that, again, that touch, taste, feel experience, you're going to influence change.

Colin Boyton [00:22:11]:

We just need to do more of it. That's all. And in a business sense, that is it's not quite as straightforward. So when you're trying to influence a fleet manager, obviously, he or she has got, you know, x amount of employees, in some instances, thousands of vehicles that they've got to try and switch from ICE over to to EV. So it's not a straightforward process, and it has to be done in blocks and bits and pieces. But, again, you know, doing the events that we do, it it gives those fleet people the opportunity to come along and share experience, learn from each other, and talk to the people that have the solutions. And that is the vehicle manufacturers, the leasing companies, you know, salary sacrifice, the charging, the workplace charging, depot charging, public charging organizations. All of that, we try to bring them all together in one place, one stop shop.

Colin Boyton [00:23:09]:

That's what greenfield events

Liz Allan [00:23:11]:

are. Which is brilliant. And actually, what you said about share share by learning Mhmm. That's the biggest thing, isn't it? Because if you it's it is this, you don't know what you don't

Colin Boyton [00:23:21]:

know. Yeah.

Liz Allan [00:23:22]:

Isn't it? I mean, before before I started test driving EVs, before you know, when I mean we were kind of wanting to get one, I really didn't know what I didn't know because I didn't know any I'd only ever driven a petrol car. I've not I've not gone down we never went down the diesel route, but we always had a petrol car. You know? So and and it was just it was trying to get your head round. So hang on a minute. Right. Okay. So it drives like a normal car, but you just have to you know, I'd never I'd not really kind of driven an automatic either that much, you know. I liked my gears, but Yeah.

Liz Allan [00:23:59]:

Sat me in an EV. I was happy as a blooming pig in

Colin Boyton [00:24:05]:

pill.

Liz Allan [00:24:06]:

Just, you know, just been able to do what it can what they can do. Yeah. Just it's hard. I said to a friend yesterday, I was trying to talk talk to her. I was talking to her about about, the car, and I went I said, you know, you could just I'm happy for you to just jump in and have a bit of a go if you want.

Colin Boyton [00:24:24]:

So I

Liz Allan [00:24:24]:

mean, we we'll do it another time, you know, but because I just thought you can't it's hard to explain it to somebody what it feels like driving driving electric, isn't it?

Colin Boyton [00:24:34]:

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Especially the the first time that, you know, that instant torque that you get with with an EV that the, you know, the acceleration and that that torque, the the sort of I guess, the power that's under your foot is is is phenomenal. And you couple that with the silence, and it is a very strange sensation, and one that I I can certainly remember my first ever go and, I'll never forget it. And and it's something that never never goes in my opinion. It certainly doesn't for me. Every EV I get into and drive, I still get a little bit of a a tingle, a little bit of a buzz, because they they are different.

Colin Boyton [00:25:20]:

And for me, it's a it is a a much better driving experience. And I took my son. I I bought him, like, you know, these sort of experience days. And I think he he was only 18 at the time. He so he'd only been driving for about 7 or 8 months, and I've got him a Tesla day. So we went up to this track and he was so excited. He'd been in a passenger seat with me, for his first ever go in at Tesla, but this was him actually getting behind the wheel. And, honestly, he he grinned for days after that.

Colin Boyton [00:25:55]:

And he talks about it all the time now. Whenever people say to him, you know, what does your what does your dad do for a living, Joe? And he says, oh, electric car boat shows and things like that and EV rally and everyone's like, oh, electric vehicles. And he's like, no. No. I've done it. I've tried it. And so he's, again, another thing that we've got to do is, you know, taking the youngsters, the the the drivers that are just coming through, and and educating these, these younger folk on, where things are gonna be in a few years' time. They need to sort of start getting a grip of it now.

Colin Boyton [00:26:30]:

And that's where companies like, the AA are really, really good, you know, with their driving schools. You know, they're they're actually teaching these, new drivers now in electric vehicles, which I think is fantastic. So, yeah, there's lots lots that can be done, and, there's lots of little elements to this in terms of the education piece, and Greenfleet is just one of them. There's other events out there, as we both know, where we all sort of bump into each other. And I think with the other events that go on in the EV space, there are some maybe that are a little bit guilty of, it being a bit of an echo chamber. Yeah. You know, it's the same people talking about the same stuff to the same people.

Liz Allan [00:27:12]:

Same people. Yeah. You

Colin Boyton [00:27:13]:

know? Yeah. And while all of that is good, don't get me wrong, it's that it's reaching the fresh blood. And and what we do here every year is, you know, we, we're constantly looking at the data that we hold here that we use to, reach out and and engage with the the sort of the fleet audience to try and get them to either, a, read Greenfleet Digital Magazine or, b, come to the events or preferably both and sign up for the newsletters and this, that, and the other. We're constantly refreshing that data. So we're trying to, you know, reach new people, to take the story to them and and and get them to come on this journey with us.

Liz Allan [00:27:55]:

And I like it because I was I was lucky enough to attend the awards, last year. Mhmm. December December? Yeah.

Colin Boyton [00:28:03]:

Remember them? Yeah. And,

Liz Allan [00:28:05]:

and that was really interesting. I don't know what I was expecting, Kind of, you know, obviously, it's just what it says on the tip. Not do

Colin Boyton [00:28:11]:

I, by the sound

Liz Allan [00:28:12]:

of it?

Colin Boyton [00:28:14]:

Not do I. I don't know what you were expecting.

Liz Allan [00:28:17]:

Well, it was it was really I mean, it was a brilliant evening for a start off. But the actual awards, there were lots and lots of different categories weren't there in the in the awards. And I was blown away by it. I suppose it isn't until you get into the nitty gritty of what Fleet is about that actually you recognize, you know, what these what these awards are for and what and and, you know, and and who's kind of doing what. And actually, it really really opened my eyes. It was a brilliant event. It was, you know, you you guys put on some fantastic events, But, yeah, it that kind of really opened my eyes. I was kinda like, oh, okay.

Liz Allan [00:28:56]:

So that's what they do then.

Colin Boyton [00:28:58]:

Yeah. I mean, with with with the awards in particular, I guess there's sort of 3, maybe 4 elements to fleet for for me anyway, breaking it down into its very basic terms. So you've got the, the vehicle manufacturers. Without them, none of this can happen. So they need recognition. So we have the the the manufacturer categories. Then you've got the, solutions providers. So this is your charging, your leasing, your telematics and technology and that kind of stuff.

Colin Boyton [00:29:30]:

So everything else that a fleet manager needs. So they need some recognition because they're the ones that are bringing this stuff to market. Then you've got the organizations that, I guess, are driving change, both public and private sector. So the sort of the fleet of the year categories that we have there. And then it's the individuals. You know? A lot of none of this happens without somebody within any organization, be it public or private sector, you know, without them having the vision, I've got to do this, and I'm going to go and try and make this happen it's you know those people also need a pat on the back so So we do the individual sort of fleet manager categories and then, well it was 10 years ago I introduced the EV champions. So that's how long the sort of EV thing's been going on. Last year was our 10th anniversary, so we created the Hall of Fame as well.

Colin Boyton [00:30:23]:

So all of those people are now inducted. And, yeah, obviously, I I will continue to recognize 5 individuals a year, that for us go above and beyond the, you know, sort of traditional role, and and really sort of push the boat on on the whole EVPs.

Liz Allan [00:30:41]:

No. It was it was a really, really interesting evening. In fact, I was at Greenfleet Juice, the the event in the morning. Yeah. And I actually got to talk to Fraser Crichton, who has been on the podcast as well now because there were there were 3 fleet managers who you actually had up on stage talking case studies. There was a guy from Southern Ambulance. There was the chap from Royal Mail, and there was Fraser. I mean, he's hilarious anyways, isn't he? But but, actually, I just thought these guys are doing so much, and I want the other I'd like the other 2 to come on here as well if I can still I'm trying to get hold of them.

Liz Allan [00:31:22]:

But it was it's just really interesting to hear the, you know, what they're doing and how they're actually innovating innovating. No. Don't get me too thin. Innovating and actually making it work for them. You know? So Fraser Fraser was a really really interesting

Colin Boyton [00:31:38]:

Yeah. He's a cracking guy. I've I've known Fraser for for many years. He was sort of understudy to a guy called Gary McCray who left Dundee council and and when moved into the private sector space and and Fraser sort of took the role on. And and Dundee as a city, you know, it's widely regarded as the electric city, if you like. But, I mean, some of the work they've done up there has been nothing short of phenomenal. So, yeah, he's a he's a cracking guy. But then you you mentioned, I think, the Royal Mail guy, so Stuart Murphy.

Liz Allan [00:32:09]:

That's right.

Colin Boyton [00:32:10]:

Again, you know, he's got the biggest fleet in the country. He's got the probably the hardest job out of any fleet manager arguably. Some might say, yeah, but we haven't got the budget that Stuart's got. But, you know, it it it really is horses for courses. That's a massive fleet that he's got to try and drag kicking and screaming and all the people in the bureaucracy that he has to go through, you know, to to sort of make these changes happen. And then you've got Chris Rutherford, who I think is the other speaker you're referring to, London Ambulance. Now I've known Chris, since, our first ever Greenfleet Awards were 2,005. The second Greenfleet Awards were hosted by Islington Council.

Liz Allan [00:32:55]:

Okay.

Colin Boyton [00:32:55]:

And it was at the the beloved new stadium, the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal. I'm a massive Arsenal fan. So when Triste was the, Chris was the, the fleet manager at Islington Council at the time. And he said, look. We'd love to host the awards next year, and I can get you the new stadium if you want

Liz Allan [00:33:18]:

it. I

Colin Boyton [00:33:19]:

was like, okay then. So along we went. So, Chris, he has won fleet manager of the year as London borough of Islington. He won European fleet manager of the year when we've done the European Green Fleet Awards in 2,008 or 9. And he subsequently then moved and he's now at London Ambulance and he's also won fleet manager of the year there. I mean, what this guy doesn't know is not worth knowing. I mean and and he's now arguably in charge of one of the most difficult fleets to decarbonize. You know, an ambulance fleet is, you know, it's no big feat.

Colin Boyton [00:33:56]:

And that's why we've launched as as you're probably aware, you know, emergency green fleet is an event we've been doing for a couple of years now. And, you know, those guys really, really need some help because they have issues that don't really apply to your normal fleet manager, your your traditional local authority or or SME or even blue blue chip corporates. They don't have the same issues as as the police, fire and ambulance fleets do. Yet they've still got the same targets. They've still got to do what everyone else has got to do but they've got a more difficult job to do. So Chris for me is a pioneer in this space. He's, he's up there with the top people in our industry, in my opinion.

Liz Allan [00:34:37]:

Right. So I'm gonna be talking to you later on. I had to get you to give have a word in his ear and get him on the Absolutely. I can

Colin Boyton [00:34:42]:

I can certainly make those introductions? No problem.

Liz Allan [00:34:45]:

Fantastic. Now we've gotta talk the rally. Mhmm. We've got to talk talk the EV. I mean, there's there's obviously g f 100 as well, but we've got to talk the rally first.

Colin Boyton [00:34:54]:

Okay.

Liz Allan [00:34:54]:

The green fleet EV rally is is has grown I I would say it's grown into a wonderful beast as in in I mean, in a nice way. Yeah. You've got to give us some actual, you know, give us some background to how how that developed. Who's where whose brainchild was that one then? Was that you?

Colin Boyton [00:35:17]:

Yeah.

Liz Allan [00:35:17]:

Was it? Yeah. I love it.

Colin Boyton [00:35:20]:

So as I as I sort of mentioned a little bit earlier on, we've been working with Transport Scotland for many years. And we every year, we sign contracts with them to do an event of one kind or another. It might be just a Greenfleet Scotland event. Over many of the years that we've been working with them, it's included a second day, which has been evolution. So we do a fleet business day, and then we do a consumer day. And in 2020, we had signed contracts with them to do a Greenfleet Scotland, event for them. And they wanted it to happen during COP 26 while COP was in Glasgow. Obviously, at the beginning of that year or sort of March time, a small thing called COVID came along.

Colin Boyton [00:36:08]:

And knocked everything for 6. And we as a a media brand, and we're no different to any other media brands, especially those that do events. Legally we couldn't put live events on. So as a business we had to sort of shift. And we had to move very, very quickly. And and we shifted. We managed to shift our events to a sort of an online format which we ran on and off due to lockdowns and this and the other, on and off for 2 years. But we as we moved into 21, COP 26 got moved into November 21.

Colin Boyton [00:36:46]:

Our event that we had planned with Transport Scotland got moved with it. And at the beginning of 21, I was sat at home, and, I thought to myself, what else can we do while the eyes of the world are on Glasgow, around sort of climate change and whatever else, what else can we do to show the rest of the world what the UK is up to with EV? And I literally created a graphic, that said the EV rally of Scotland, Be a part of something unbelievable with the EV in unbelievable in a different color. And I dropped it on LinkedIn that night. It was about half past 10. And within I think it was about 7 minutes, I'd had 3 messages, in my inbox in LinkedIn. Can I drive my Tesla in your rally? And I'm like, no. That's not quite what I had in mind. So I sort of ignored the messages to start with.

Colin Boyton [00:37:42]:

I came into the office next morning, and I said to my boss I said, look. This is what I've done. I think there's something in this. We should explore it. So, you know, I've got, I'm very fortunate. I worked with a well, for a guy called Jason Devoto. He's my MD, and he gives me a quite a sort of an open and a free rein with this stuff. And he's willing to let me explore opportunities and and see where they go.

Colin Boyton [00:38:10]:

And with this one, we I I I sort of spent a couple of hours thinking, right, well, what if we were able to put together some teams of vehicles, hopefully around 20 in total, and unleash them on the Scottish charging network and just see how it copes. And my idea was behind it was, well, one one thing we wanna do is prove that the vehicles can do what they say on the tin. But not only can they do it, they could do it in some of the most challenging terrain anywhere in the UK and also in miserable Scottish November weather which was another thing. So very quickly it morphed into something that turned into 23 electric cars and vans that, we set off from Glasgow on the Monday morning. And it was a 5 day moving showcase of all things EV. And and and what I wanted to do was, as I said, prove that the vehicles could do it, that the charging infrastructure in Scotland's already good, and it's only gonna get better. Try and visit sort of clean energy projects along the way to to sort of showcase how they sort of feed into the EV narrative. And I guess at the same time, visit some of the most stunning scenery anywhere in the world, to be fair.

Colin Boyton [00:39:41]:

So that's what we did. And the idea behind it was that each day would consist of a start and a finish, and in between that would be a series of official checkpoints that the vehicles had to go through. At each checkpoint, I wanted the drivers to effectively check-in, so we know they've been there. But more importantly, this is where social media I thought the power of social media is what what what can really drive this thing. Take a picture of the vehicle, post it on social media using very strict hashtags and handles. And we prewrote all the social media copy for the checkpoints. I think I wrote 900 and 60 pieces of copy.

Liz Allan [00:40:21]:

No way.

Colin Boyton [00:40:22]:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Liz Allan [00:40:23]:

Oh my god.

Colin Boyton [00:40:24]:

Yeah. So it was in blah blah at checkpoint such and such on days of blah, which is featuring a wind farm from them. And so it's all these different handles and stuff. But what it done was it created this sort of online snowball that just grew very, very quickly. And to to show how quick at the end of day 1 on the first ever rally I've got a phone call from the Scottish Transport Minister's office who said we've been watching the rally all day. We know you're in Dundee on Friday on the last day. The minister's in Dundee. Could you meet him? So, of course, I said yes.

Colin Boyton [00:41:07]:

And then the following morning, STV had got wind of it, and said, look. We understand from the minister's office that you're meeting, in Dundee. Could we come down and and could we do some stuff for the news? So that's what happened. On the last day we met in Dundee we met with the transport minister and and you know it was a a a great chat. It was a long week, with some serious ups and downs. But what got us through the whole thing was this wonderful spirit that is in our industry. And me and you have seen it. We see it every time we meet up with Amazing.

Colin Boyton [00:41:43]:

You know, some of the big names in the industry, you know, Sarah Sloman and, Paul Kirby and Sam Clark and obviously John Curtis and, people of that ilk. And then there's, you know, the Launers of this world who who sort of come into the rally the following year. But we got to the finish line, and, I was immediately asked what we're doing next year Colin? And I was like okay so there's going to be another one. That's good. I said well let's do John of Grace to Land's End. So 21 was the first ever EV rally. There was 23 vehicles. But I'll tell you what it was, Liz.

Colin Boyton [00:42:18]:

It was the vehicle manufacturers that put teams in. So it was Maxus. It was Polestar. It was Kia, and it was Stellantis that put vehicles in. And then I had some wonderful support from Kirsty and, and and Edmund at the AA, and also, you know, James and and Richard and the guys down at Webfleet who put some technology onto the vehicles. So they've been together with us on the rally from the get go. But in year 2, when we decided to do John Ambrose to Land's End, the whole thing shifted. The manufacturers, apart from Maxus, they decided that it wasn't for them.

Colin Boyton [00:42:58]:

So the car manufacturers predominantly.

Liz Allan [00:43:00]:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Colin Boyton [00:43:02]:

And it then it became our audience that wanted to take part. So we'd done a showcase at the awards in at the end of 21, showed off what Evros had done, the EV rally of Scotland. And I was immediately approached on the awards night by Lorna and Graham at National Grid, by Ollie Crawner, DPD, who they said to me, we wanna be part of this. How do we how do we get involved? So we started to talk and and then this new, sort of theme to the rally started to take hold. And it was the fleets that wanted to be part of it along with some manufacturers. And then it was industry as well. So, Lex Autolase came in as our headline sponsor, for the 1st year, which was great of them to to support it. We still had the AA.

Colin Boyton [00:43:50]:

We still had Webfleet. Some of the charging companies came on board. And then there was people like, Neil, Riddle, Power and the and the Power Rangers as I named them at the time, and I can claim copyright on that. Yeah that was my that was my thing and Neil was like I don't want to do that that's too cheesy. And then within about 3 weeks I think the people internally had said to him no no hang on a minute there's something in this. That's now the Power Rangers were born. But it's through the collaboration that we experienced with all of these organizations coming together for the greater good that we've done, John O'Groats to Land's End, and it was a an event that doubled in size. You know, we went from 23 vehicles to 46.

Colin Boyton [00:44:36]:

Again, it was over 1200 miles, but that for me was where I first witnessed this, this camaraderie and and the the the feel good factor that is within our industry. And we got to the finish line, and and John Curtis stuck a microphone under my nose and said you know how are you mate this is all down to you blah blah blah what's been the highlight of the week for you And in front of me, which, you couldn't see because the camera was on me, but in front of me was sort of 50 odd drivers who'd been there for the whole week. And I said, it's these people. It's it you know, the the the the feel good factor and the collaboration that had gone on, is is what's driven this and what was the highlight for me. So, it it very quickly became, a a big event that was massively spoken about. But you know for me that year it got voted in my industry which is media. It got voted event of the year in the media industry which is a great accolade you know for something that started off in my head 18 months prior. For it to sort of reach that kind of level and that kind of, status for me was, I was massively proud, but I can't do any of this without the, top to bottom support that I get internally as well.

Colin Boyton [00:46:02]:

It's, you know, while everybody in the industry that supports the rally are you know, they're all fantastic, but my team as well, you know, they work long hours on these rallies. You know, we're we're up at the crack of dawn, half past 4, 5 o'clock in the morning, and and we're at it till sort of, you know, 11 o'clock at night in some instances with my logistics crews that are out there putting all the branding out, ready for the teams to arrive. That's one thing. But then I've got 2 more logistic crews behind the rally that are sweeping it all up. So it's ready for the next day. So, you know, they're not getting until stupid o'clock at night while we're all, we've had our dinner, we've had our chat around the bar, and we've gone to bed before they're even rolling into the car park. So and then there's the media crews. You know, John and Sarah have done an amazing job for me last year, you know, bringing the rally to life, on camera.

Colin Boyton [00:46:56]:

And so, you know, we we we know that the 2 amazing personalities, hugely knowledgeable, massively enthusiastic. And when you're in a, the back end of nowhere in Scotland and it's throwing it down with rain and it's got dark up past 3 and everybody's miserable. And then you get Sarah Sloman pull up in a car and she bounds around like Zebedee off a magic roundabout.

Liz Allan [00:47:21]:

It's like a figure.

Colin Boyton [00:47:22]:

Yeah? Yeah. Unbelievable enthusiasm. It's, it it's catchy, you know. We all turned up to the hotel on day 3 of the first ever rally, and, it had been a horrible day. I'd already called it the beast, but I didn't realize quite how hard and challenging it was gonna be. And it was only through Sarah and also Linda, Linda Grave. I must give Linda a little mention here because, Linda and I hadn't actually met. We'd spoken on the phone, and she wanted to be a part of the rally.

Colin Boyton [00:47:53]:

So she took an overnight train up to Scotland and she got to the hotel that we was due to arrive at on the North Coast in a place called Thurso. And it was, as I said, it was a beast of a day with rotten weather. It was 325 odd miles, I think, we'd had to do through the Highlands of Scotland. Yeah. And everybody was turning up at the hotel, but Linda had been there all afternoon. She'd got everybody's tables organized for dinner. She created these little posters and, honestly, nothing short of incredible. And you walk through the door absolutely shattered and you've got the lovely Linda there to greet you and she was all bubbles and smiles and instantly your your mood challenged And that was down to her, that was.

Colin Boyton [00:48:41]:

That was nothing short of incredible. So, you know, she she's been a part of the rally since then. As it stands at the moment, I don't know if she's got a drive this year. So I want to use this platform to say if any of you that are involved in the rally this year need a driver, come through to me. Or if you know Linda, reach out to her direct because she's desperate to come on board again and and be a part of this stuff. And she's hugely knowledgeable. She knows what she's doing. She's had the rallies before.

Colin Boyton [00:49:12]:

Yeah. So please give her a drive if you get the opportunity. But, yeah, so at the end of, 21, it went into 22 on a on a national scale. Then last year, we done the capital city challenge, and this was a whole new, challenge for me again because I we were trying to go around the 5 capital cities. So Cardiff, London, Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin. 3 of those we knew would be relatively simple, which was the first couple of days. But then stepping across over to Ireland was, a huge challenge.

Liz Allan [00:49:47]:

Wasn't it? Massive challenge. Yeah. You

Colin Boyton [00:49:50]:

know, the charging infrastructure over there is thin. It's probably the best way to put it in. Good. It it was it was not easy. So we had that first. But then I was very fortunate to showcase electric HGV for the first time last year. DAF came in with a, a 19 ton electric truck, which is a collaboration piece with Senex that they did, And then Jamie and and James Venables, at Mercedes Benz came, along with a a 27 ton, I think, EATTROS. And that, for me, was the rally reaching its, a a a whole new audience and a whole new strand to the narrative because we were then showing that it's not just about electric cars.

Colin Boyton [00:50:40]:

It's not even just about electric cars and vans. It is you know, the whole thing is there now. These trucks, these big, big beasts can get from a to b, on full electric. And, thanks to those guys for for adding that sort of new dimension to the event because it it took it onto a new level for us. And I'm grateful to say that they're all back with us this year. We've got the, Mercedes, but I think Jamie's don't know what he's doing, but he's I mean, he's 44 ton, I think,

Liz Allan [00:51:10]:

this year. Oh my god. Oh my god. Absolutely. I've gotta say I've gotta say I've said this to you before we were recording as well. It was so impressive. So so I met you at Bristol Soaves. For those of you that don't know, Colin Colin was brilliant.

Liz Allan [00:51:24]:

He was so kind and let me kind of go to about 3. It was 3 checkpoints wasn't it with you? Yes. I've met I got the train from Reading down to Bristol and then we did Bristol, Wembley, and sorry, Bristol, Heathrow, Wembley. And just waiting and seeing those vehicles coming in, what an absolute picture it was. And seeing the trucks coming in and just the organization was spot on. It really really was, and trying to get all the vehicles in and then get them all checked in and then heading off again. I think I was in the middle of a chat with somebody, wasn't I? And you're like, Liz, you can't go now. Alright then.

Liz Allan [00:52:03]:

I'm off. It was amazing. What That

Colin Boyton [00:52:07]:

was at the amphitheater, wasn't it, in Bristol? The amphitheater. Yeah.

Liz Allan [00:52:11]:

It was.

Colin Boyton [00:52:12]:

Obviously, Lex being our headline sponsor, they they own the building behind the amphitheater. So that's why they wanted to do this showcase there. So not only did we have nearly 50 vehicles descending upon the amphitheater, They had already lined up another 20 or so on static display. So, yeah, it was a logistic challenge trying to it was like a an EV jigsaw trying to get everything on there, and then effectively turn it all around to get it all back out again. But, yeah, that's where we first met.

Liz Allan [00:52:45]:

Yeah. It was amazing.

Colin Boyton [00:52:46]:

Yeah. And you joined us for the, for the first few few legs of

Liz Allan [00:52:50]:

the flight time. I did. In the back of in the back of your Tesla going going quite fast. It was great. It was it was.

Colin Boyton [00:52:58]:

But within the speed limits, wasn't it, Liz? Of course.

Liz Allan [00:53:01]:

Of course you were in within the speed limit. So I I was just very surprised at how fast it could actually go. As in as in from naught to that was kinda like No.

Colin Boyton [00:53:10]:

Not to the speed limit. Yeah.

Liz Allan [00:53:12]:

Yeah. Of course. But, I mean, it was just it's one nippy beast, that Tesla, wasn't it?

Colin Boyton [00:53:17]:

Yeah. It was. It was. And, you know but, again, from from my point of view as the organizer and and again with with John and Sarah with, you know, doing the media stuff, all the teams are effectively going from a to b and then to c to d to the finish, whereas we have to maybe go from a to b via something else.

Liz Allan [00:53:37]:

Yes.

Colin Boyton [00:53:38]:

So we needed that comfort blanket, if you like, that the range on a Tesla can offer, especially with John and Sarah. I mean, you know, some of the places I send them off to to do a showcase on one of the sponsoring teams. You know, they are doing extra mileage over and above the sort of, official appointed mileage for that day of of the rally. So this year, yeah, logistics crews will all be electric. We've got, obviously, the media crews will all be electric. Me and my team will all be electric. Then we've got the teams involved again this year. Some of them are, repeat from day 1 or from year 1.

Colin Boyton [00:54:20]:

So the AA, are back with us with Drive Tech, who offer some amazing driver training for all of the organizations that are involved. We have Webfleet back with us putting tech on the vehicles where we can measure the miles per kilowatt hour, so the energy Mhmm. Used of the vehicles. But at the same time, they're able to sort of show charging habits. How long a vehicle was on charge for? How many times did it charge a day. So was it going from sort of full to to almost empty before they charged, or did that particular driver sort of have that sort of, grazing approach to the rally? You know, where they Yeah. Sort of stop at every opportunity they could and just

Liz Allan [00:55:01]:

Yeah. You

Colin Boyton [00:55:01]:

know, grab 10 minutes here and there. So that's what the web fleet stuff does. And then, you know, we've got people like Lorna. I can't do this without, giving Lorna a bit of a shout out here because what she does for the rally and what National Grid do, but predominantly it's Lorna. What she does for the rally is nothing short of incredible. You know, they support the rally, massively through not only getting involved and entering a team, but, you know, they offer some background support as well to model logistics crews, for example. You know, as I said, these guys, they're in vans that don't necessarily have the range that the cars do, but they still need to try and stay ahead of the rally. And they might rock up a a public charge point on a motorway service station, for argument's sake, and all the bays are gone.

Colin Boyton [00:55:52]:

Because we, you know, we don't expect anyone to shut bays off for us. That's not what the rally's about. So they may get there and think, ah. So, you know, there's been 1 or 2 occasions where I've been able to pick the phone up and say, Lorna, look. I've got a problem. Can you help? And there'll be a National Grid site that might be 10, 12 miles away or whatever. She makes a couple of quick phone calls. She's back on the phone to me.

Colin Boyton [00:56:14]:

I'm then back on the phone to the guys. Give them the postcode. They could rock up at a National Grid site, quickly plug in, get 20 minutes, and then be on their way. So things like that, are are hugely crucial to making the event you know, the stuff that needs to go on in the background, which, you know, you guys don't see, it's things like that that are, hugely important, and and Lorna's a massive part of that. But also on my Greenfleet side, for getting the ready for one second, Lorna She has

Liz Allan [00:56:46]:

the f 100, wasn't she? So for those who don't know who Lorna is, this is Lorna McAteer. She's been on the podcast as well, who's an she was the she was the number one of the g g f 100. So the Greenfleet 100, wasn't she?

Colin Boyton [00:56:59]:

Yeah. Yeah. She was this year. Yeah. She was. And that is, for me, she is the most important person in our industry. Not woman, person. She is hugely knowledgeable.

Colin Boyton [00:57:16]:

She's got a massive job on her own, just a day to day job of managing, I don't know what it is, only 9 odd 1,000 vehicles, I think, here in the UK, something similar again over in the States that she's also deeply entrenched in for National Grid over there. And yet she still finds time to come out of the office, certainly 6 or 7 times a year for me, to get involved in the rally, but also to come to the green fleet events and talk and share her experience as a fleet manager, on how she's gone down this decarbonization and electrification route with her own fleet. But what she's really good at is talking to people at a level that they can understand. So, you know, when when I go back to this, you know, we're we're trying to still reach people that haven't actually gone on this journey yet you know these the the novices the beginners she can talk to them at that level But the same token, she can go in and talk to, I don't know, the chief executive of Microsoft and at that level and also talk to to people of that ilk. So, she's a massively supportive, very helpful, person. I've got a lot of time for her. And, again, they're back with us again this year. We have got some, as I said, we've got some new blood this year.

Colin Boyton [00:58:34]:

We're going to some new places. The theme this year is a to zed. So we've got old school. You remember the days before Tom Toms and and Google Maps?

Liz Allan [00:58:43]:

I like I do like the a to zed idea.

Colin Boyton [00:58:45]:

We used to spread maps out across the. While you were stopped, by the way, not while you were driving. And we're gonna try and work our way through towns and cities in alphabetical order. That's not been easy to put together, but we've we've kind of got there. There's not a town in the UK that begins with x. So the best I could do was Exeter. Yeah. Well, so I've I've bent the rules a little bit, I hope, for the

Liz Allan [00:59:14]:

I've gotta do it. And I noticed I noticed Zedd is Zedd is slightly different as well.

Colin Boyton [00:59:19]:

Zouche, we're going to.

Liz Allan [00:59:20]:

Yeah. Ash Ash Ashby Diligent.

Colin Boyton [00:59:22]:

A little no. No. No.

Liz Allan [00:59:23]:

Oh, is it oh, is it not Ashby Delazush?

Colin Boyton [00:59:26]:

It's it's about 15 mile away.

Liz Allan [00:59:29]:

Oh, okay. I was just laughing, Joe. No. He means Ashby Delazush then, don't he? No. No. No. So be the lazush then, don't he? No. No.

Liz Allan [00:59:37]:

So

Colin Boyton [00:59:37]:

we've got some we've got some cracking sites that we're gonna visit this year, which are courtesy of, some of the teams that are involved, so can play out, My Energy, Drax. You know, they're all coming on board for the first time. So this is their first rally. Okay. We're we're meeting sites that, that are either owned by them or managed by them, so that'd be interesting. And then we've got a couple of other again, going back to Linda, she's introduced me to Arnold White Group who have opened this new hub, just outside of Leighton Buzzard. Mhmm. I think,

Liz Allan [01:00:12]:

I stand corrected, but I think I'm right in saying, has the largest

Colin Boyton [01:00:18]:

onshore on land wind turbine in the country

Liz Allan [01:00:22]:

Oh my good grief.

Colin Boyton [01:00:24]:

Powering 10 or 12 ultrarapid chargers. There's battery storage on-site. And they even have some of the bays there are they've been made for buses and coaches.

Liz Allan [01:00:39]:

Good god.

Colin Boyton [01:00:39]:

Which means when Jamie rocks up in his 44 ton Eactors, he'll just park up, plug in, away we go. So, we're gonna showcase some really, sort of new and innovative sites this year as well. We're going to Gridserve in Norwich on day 3. We've done the electric forecourt in Braketree in, in 2022, but, this is a new a relatively new site for them. So we're gonna go there on day 3, which I'm really, really excited about as well. So, yeah, watch this space for 1st week of July.

Liz Allan [01:01:12]:

It's all gonna be brilliant. Now do you know what? We've been talking for such a long time.

Colin Boyton [01:01:16]:

I know. They're shut up or not.

Liz Allan [01:01:18]:

No. I don't really like that. I'd love to talk to you for so much longer. I've got to have you back on again because we do need to talk about the g f 100. Yeah. We've been talking for over an hour now, Carl.

Colin Boyton [01:01:28]:

Are we really sorry, love?

Liz Allan [01:01:30]:

Yeah. But so I I what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna say I wanna bring you back on after because I am hoping to that I can be a driver on on the EV rally this year. So we'll see how it goes because there's a new team, isn't there? Women drive electric

Colin Boyton [01:01:44]:

Women drive electric.

Liz Allan [01:01:45]:

George Thurman and Michelle Breffett. So their team, I'm hoping that I'm gonna be part of that. I may may be a hanger on. Hopefully, we'll see we'll see how it goes. But look, just to say, for anybody who wants to get hold of Colin. Yeah. Right? So you've got a number of websites. You've got the gf100.glipgreenfleet.net.

Liz Allan [01:02:07]:

You've got greenfleet.net for,

Colin Boyton [01:02:10]:

and

Liz Allan [01:02:12]:

but you've got events dot greenfleet.net.

Colin Boyton [01:02:15]:

That's right.

Liz Allan [01:02:16]:

So Yeah. So that's that's where

Colin Boyton [01:02:17]:

you are. Find me on LinkedIn. Yep. That's probably one of the easiest ways.

Liz Allan [01:02:24]:

And then look at and see what's going on with regards to the rally. I mean, the so the remind me the date of the the date of the rally.

Colin Boyton [01:02:31]:

The main one is the 1st to 5th July.

Liz Allan [01:02:34]:

Yeah.

Colin Boyton [01:02:35]:

But we have got the Celtic series as well. So they're 3 2 day rallies. 1 for Wales, 1 for Scotland, 1 for Ireland, which are later in the year.

Liz Allan [01:02:43]:

Which will be fantastic. So so connect if you're not connected with Cole, connect with him. Have a look what he's doing. Around the time of the rally, you'll just see this kind of massive kind of Ferrari of information and photos and people con you know, on social media showing you what this is like, including me hopefully. So so yeah. But, Colt, listen. You've been an absolute star. I will have you back on again.

Liz Allan [01:03:07]:

I promise. Yeah.

Colin Boyton [01:03:08]:

That'd be great. That'd be great. Let's do it after the rally. So

Liz Allan [01:03:12]:

maybe we

Colin Boyton [01:03:12]:

can, we could share some stories and experiences, and and I'm sure there'll be a few that we can't share. But, Yeah. Let's do it again after the rally. And, Yeah. But in the meantime, it'd be lovely to catch up with you, beforehand if we can.

Liz Allan [01:03:28]:

Thank you, Cole. And listen. Thank you to you, and thank you to everybody else for watching and listening, and I shall see you next time.

Colin Boyton [01:03:34]:

Bye bye. Lovely. Thanks for having

Liz Allan [01:03:36]:

me on. Bye.

Colin Boyton [01:03:36]:

Bye.