Heating technology company Vaillant — best known for central heating boilers — is replacing its 230-strong fleet of Ford Transit vans with new Ford Transit Custom models.

The company, based in Belper, Derbyshire, will take delivery of 110 vans this year for Vaillant’s after-sales service engineers to use as a mobile workspace and for component storage.

Load-carrying ability and reliability were cited as two key reasons why Vaillant decided to stick with the blue oval:

“Our vans carry a large number of spares to enable them to maintain a very high first-call success rate,” said Keith Mathers, Vaillant group service director.

“When we are called out, our goal is to fix any problem immediately, which we do in more than 95 per cent of cases. The Transit is ideal for this role because of its high load capacity, and we know it to be exceptionally reliable in service.”

The Transit Custom is one of the most-decorated models in the Ford commercial vehicles range, having collected 15 awards in the last 12 months including International Van of the Year 2013, Auto Express Van of the Year, VansA2Z Small Panel Van 2014, What Van? Van of the Year 2014 and Fleet World Van Manufacturer of the Year.

The Transit Custom is powered by an advanced 2.2-litre Duratorq TDCi diesel engine with three power levels: 100PS/310Nm, 125PS/350Nm and 155PS/385Nm.

Two wheelbase options are also available and Vaillant appears to have opted for thei high-roof model, which is not yet a common sight on UK roads but does offer significant improvement in load-carrying ability and improved ergonomics for Vaillant’s engineers, who may have to work in the rear of the vehicle.