The Market Weighton based company is fast growing its reputation for vehicle tracking and has impressed North Yorkshire’s Rural Crime Division by going above and beyond for a victim of theft.
The tracking systems earnt the respect of The North Yorkshire Rural Crime Division after the system was used to track and locate a recently stolen quad bike.
Sergeant Arfan Rahouf from the North Yorkshire Rural Task Force was involved in the vehicle recovery operation and he commended the tracking software after being impressed by Simplytrak’s speedy response and the softwares ability to pinpoint the stolen vehicles exact location. PC Arfan commented, “We received fantastic service from Simplytrak. The tracking kit enabled the team to locate, seize and recover the stolen quad within twenty-four hours.”
Having previously been interviewed about rural vehicle crime, PC Rahouf commented that: “The problem with rural crime is it is not high enough up the agenda for people. If you take a quad bike from a farmer then that is their livelihood gone for a couple of days – if not weeks – until it can be retrieved or replaced and the impact of it is massive.” Since the introduction of the Rural Task Force over three years ago, rural crime has fallen, however PC Rahouf stated that, “The force has seen an increase in farm and agricultural theft, in particular quad bike thefts.” Which is where tracking and security systems come into play and can offer confidence to the rural community.
Talking about the incident and the systems capabilities, Ian Wood, Managing Director said: “Simplytrak supplies Platt Quads with the tracking system and software and in turn they supply vehicles to their network of customers with the added security of Simplytrak’s tracking systems. Having originally purchased a quad fitted with a tracker from Platt’s the vehicle was subsequently re-sold to a private customer and the system was later disabled. Unfortunately for the new owner, the vehicle was recently stolen and North Yorkshire Rural Crime Division contacted Simplytrak to enquire about the original tracking system installed and ascertain whether it could be reinstated. We quickly confirmed that we were able to reactivate the system to track the stolen bike and reacted quickly to the Police request. By re-enabling the tracker we were able to direct the police to the exact location of the stolen vehicle, where they were able to recover it quickly.”
Ian goes on to say, “The tracker demonstrated its capabilities perfectly and impressed both the Officers involved in the quad’s recovery and the private owner – who has now purchased the system for the rest of their fleet of vehicles. Rural vehicle crime is on the rise and it’s great to know our system can support prevention and help to minimise crime by supporting tracking and vehicle retrieval which hopefully leads to subsequent criminal proceedings. In the past few years we have helped the police on a number of occasions and often finding one stolen vehicle leads to the location of quite a few more.”
The private owner Helen, who has since gone on to purchase a range of Simplytrak tracking kits said, “Without having the Simplytrak tracker installed on our quad bike, we would have faced huge costs plus the price rise on insurance and the total inconvenience of having to replace the equipment. Thanks to Simplytrak we recovered the quad bike within around 12 hours of it being stolen.”
Helen explained: “The yard break-in was frighteningly well-organised, we believe the thieves used drones to stake out the area and plan entry and exit points in advance. Within a 15 minute window they had cut down our fences, broken into our shed and wheeled the quad to a waiting horse trailer before making a quick getaway. We reported the crime to the Police but with no officers immediately available, or clues to go off it was looking incredibly unlikely that we would recover the quad. We remembered that the previous owner had a tracker fitted but we hadn’t re-activated it in our name.The next morning we were able to get Simplytrak’s details from the previous owner, and pass these on to the Police. Simplytrak immediately accessed the tracker and within a matter of minutes told the Police it’s precise location. Officers were able to recover the quad that same day.
We are so thrilled to have got our quad bike back. Recovery would not have been possible without Simplytrak. We have already re-registered the tracker in our name and purchased several more units for all our other machines! We couldn’t be more grateful for the fantastic service from Simplytrak.”
Simplytrak’s vehicle tracking systems enable fleet management operators to drive down costs and improve efficiency. With capabilities including live turn-by-turn tracking, geofencing and alerts the tracking solution allows companies to know exactly where their vehicles are at all times. The modular system also offers immobilisation features and witness and/or security cameras to further increase vehicle and driver security.
The growing team at SAAS Global enjoyed an agency-wide day out at the horse races on Tuesday 21st September in recognition of their hard work and collective success over the last 18 months.
Staff from Forward & Thinking, Simplytrak and Wold Outdoor downed tools for the day to enjoy a team reward at Beverley Racecourse thanks to the Group’s Directors, husband and wife team Alison and Andrew Johnson.
The Johnson’s wanted to recognise and reward the team’s hard work over the past year and half. Talking about the staff social, Andrew said: “We wanted to say a big thank you for everybody’s hard work and to celebrate the Group’s success during such a challenging time. It’s important for us to show how much we think of every member of the team. The race day and Group-wide share option scheme are just two of a number of ways that we show our appreciation.” Andrew goes on to say: “Building a great company is hard. But if you have outperformers across the board then results are almost inevitable and deserve recognition”.
Alison added: “We had a fantastic company day out – it was wonderful to have everybody together again for a day of fun and laughter! Our pockets may have ended up empty and there were some sore feet and heads, but a great time was had by all.”
In total 23 members of staff attended the company day out swapping their workwear for horse racing finery. The team enjoyed a lavish meal and plenty of drinks as part of the racecourse’s hospitality package.
Lydia Empson, Content Producer (SAAS) commented: “After joining SAAS Global during lockdown, my first team event was definitely one to remember! It was lovely to see everybody together outside of the office.”
Darren Clewes, Group Sales Director (SAAS), added: “We all enjoyed a superb day out with colleagues old and new. A really strong company culture is incredibly important and we do what we can to protect that at all costs. We’re successful because of the people we have and it’s great to be able to work and play together”.
SAAS Global’s sister companies have gone from strength to strength during lockdown, winning new clients and securing repeat and additional business alongside growing the teams by developing new roles and taking on new hires.
It looks like 2021 will be a record year for Forward & Thinking, Simplytrak and Wold Outdoor with projections indicating increasing profits for all of the companies.
Talking about the Group’s success Andrew said: “2020 was definitely the most challenging year since the 2008 financial crisis. However, our policy of hiring great candidates that possess the skills demanded by a role, but more importantly demonstrate the right attitude and culture fit has paid dividends across all teams. Every member of staff has been outstanding and we are coming out of lockdown much stronger than we went into it, not just financially but with personal and professional attainments under our belts.”
Magennis signs for the Tigers from League One side Bolton Wanderers on a two year deal. There is the option to add a third. The Northern Ireland international player scored seven goals in 44 games for Bolton last season having made a summer move from Charlton Athletic.
Simplytrak Limited is based in Market Weighton near Hull and offers fleet management and remote tracking solutions to its clients. The company is committed to support and promote regional activities and particularly its local football team.
Managing Director Ian Wood states: “We have a strong commitment to Hull City in our group of companies and are proud to be sponsoring the new striker. Josh is a promising addition to the squad. We are excited for the new Championship season and to see what he brings.”
The sponsorship will last for the current season 2019/20.
Vehicles that don’t meet the ULEZ emissions standards will have to pay a daily charge to drive within the zone, on top of the congestion charge.
You can check your vehicle on the TfL online checker but generally the charges are:
Non-payment will result in a fine of £160.
Obviously, this is bound to have an impact on businesses and the cost of operating in and around London.
While the changes are likely to encourage businesses to consider upgrading their fleet in the long-term, right now they’ll be keen to monitor journeys in and around to ULEZ and only venturing into the zone if absolutely necessary.
Thanks to the geofencing feature available on the Simplytrak system, our customers have the ability to zone useful areas on their map and then set up reports and alerts to inform drivers when they breach a geofenced area.
With this feature, fleet managers are able to run a report at the end of each day to show which vehicles have been in the ULEZ and therefore arrange to pay the total daily charges for your fleet.
To make it even easier for our customers, we’ve already created geofences for the ULEZ and the wider Low Emission Zone (LEZ).
To apply this to your portal, please email enquiries@simplytrak.com or contact our customer support team on 01430 879197.
Taking over the role of MD from Andrew Johnson, who will remain a key part of the business, Ian said:
“We’ve had some fantastic results over the last couple of years and the business has continued to grow both in terms of personnel and the products and features that we offer to customers.
“It’s definitely an exciting time to be taking over the role of MD. There are more plans to recruit so that we can continue to offer the same exceptional levels of service to our growing customer base that our existing customers are used to.”
On handing over the reins to Ian, Andrew said:
“We’re confident that the business is in safe hands with Ian as he’s already been a vital member of the senior management team for a number of years.
“The changes will allow myself and the other directors to focus on the long-term financial planning and growth of the wider group of companies, while handing over the day-to-day running of the company to Ian.”
Please join us in congratulating Ian on his promotion.
Simplytrak, the East Yorkshire-based fleet management software company behind the device, are familiar with this method of vehicle recovery and specialise in helping their customers in similar situations. Ian Wood, Simplytrak’s new Managing Director, explains:
“Motion detection is one of the many options that come with our trackers and is becoming increasingly important for businesses who want to protect their vehicles.
“As well as detecting when the ignition is switched on and off, our trackers continue to track the location of a vehicle when the engine is off. This means we can still alert the owners when a vehicle is moving even if, like in this example, the vehicles are loaded onto a wagon and taken off site.”
On this occasion, the thieves thought they had done enough to disable the trackers by disconnecting them from the quad bike batteries, however, what they weren’t planning on was the emergency power supply that kept the trackers in full operational mode for long enough for the Misson Organic Dairying Ltd to spring into action.
The quad bikes were leased from Richard Platt Farming, who supplies various vehicles to agriculture businesses. Mr Platt said:
“The agriculture industry uses a range of vehicles such as quad bikes, which are often seen as an easy target for thieves.
“That’s why I recommend that all the vehicles I supply have the Simplytrak system installed, complete with motion detection – offering customers peace of mind that they’re getting a secure vehicle to reduce the risk of business disruption.”
Joel Rathbone from Misson Organic Dairying Ltd added:
“We’re extremely grateful to Richard Platt and the team at Simplytrak for helping us use the system to its full potential to recover these vehicles. This is a busy time of year for us and all our vehicles are important to the running of the farm. We’d be lost without them.”
Following the theft, motion detection alerts have been set up in case the thieves come back and try again. During set times, if the vehicles move when the farm know they shouldn’t be moving, an SMS/email alert will be sent to Mr Rathbone at the farm so they can act quickly to keep tracks on them.
According to the Rural Crime Report 2018 from NFU Mutual, the cost of agricultural vehicle theft and quad/ATV theft last year was £5.9m and £2.3m respectively, meaning much needs to be done to tackle this increasing threat.
Effective vehicle tracking is just one of the ways in which farmers should be looking to protect their assets in 2019.