A COMPANY has given up its fleet of sign-written vans in order to provide its staff with cars that they can use in their private lives.

Business telecoms firm 4Com has taken on 23 Volkswagen Golf estates for its team of engineers.

It signed a deal with Breeze Volkswagen, based at Poole’s Tower Park.

Adam Sullivan, maintenance director for 4Com, based at Aviation Park West in Christchurch, said: “We had feedback from the engineers about what they needed in their lives outside 4Com as well as in their working day.”

He added: “We’ve got the best engineers in the field and it’s really to reward them and to show that 4Com are really trying to look after their needs out of work as well as in work.”

Installation director Russ Barrett added: “After a lot of research, we found Volkswagen had a Golf estate available so we went to the local branch in Poole and found that the new estate they’ve produced meets the criteria that we were looking for.”

The new Golf estates are bigger than previous models, with enough boot space to accommodate all of the engineers’ tools. 4Com’s fleet of 2.0TDi GTs has touch screen satnav, adaptive cruise control and safety features including emergency stop at low speed.

“It was a great match for what we were looking for,” said Mr Barrett.

Support technician Marius Verenne, who has worked for 4Com for 10 years, said of his car: “It’s going to change my life completely.

“I can’t really put into words how much this means to me and my family.

“This is by far the biggest thing as engineers we’ve ever received.”

Neil Carlton, corporate department business develop-ment manager at Breeze Volkswagen, said: “This new car is the most spacious and fuel-efficient Volkswagen Golf Estate ever and fleet buyers and drivers have been impressed by the quality, safety and value of the car as well as the low fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.”