The two Renault ZOEs will be based at Forrest’s headquarters at Dodd Lane, Bolton and will be available to staff as pool cars during the day, and the intention is that they will be used for shorter journeys and site visits in the local area.

The addition of the vehicles follows the firm’s decision to update its fleet following an internal review that showed a switch to newer, greener models would produce considerable cost and emission savings.

Last spring saw the firm replace a tranche of its older fleet with 35 newer, more environmentally friendly vehicles, which included 20 Ford Transit vans, nine Ford Fiesta 1.6 EcoBoost cars and six Fiat Doblo Cargo Maxi 1.6 MultiJet models. In total, 130 cars and vans will be added to the fleet over the next two years.

Vicki Lee, quality and environmental manager, Forrest, said: ‘With the introduction of the two electric vehicles we are upping our commitment to be an environmentally conscious company.

‘We have already made significant headway in reducing our carbon output, and will continue to ramp up our green efforts as more vehicles are delivered and new technologies introduced.'