The Challenge
Like many licensing authorities, Dorset Council has seen a steady rise in taxi and private hire vehicle applications over the past few years.
With more drivers entering the trade, the licensing team were under growing pressure to process applications quickly while ensuring compliance with local authority standards...
The team at Dorset Council were already facing challenges around time and resource management. Admin-heavy processes such as handling licence plate distribution and managing driver orders were taking up significant staff hours, limiting capacity for other priority tasks.
To keep pace with demand and deliver a smooth service for both staff and drivers, the council were looking for a partner who could streamline processes, reduce administrative burden, and ensure drivers received the right products quickly and reliably.
The Solution
Dorset Council chose MOGO's Direct Fulfilment Service
A fully managed, end-to-end solution designed to remove the administrative burden from licensing teams. Through a secure online portal, the council simply uploads approved orders, and MOGO manages the rest from production and quality checks to packaging and delivery direct to the driver’s address.
This process eliminates the need for in-house printing, stock control, and distribution, ensuring drivers receive their complete licence sets quickly, accurately, and securely, typically within 1–2 working days.
“The change to Direct Fulfilment has had a really positive effect on the team. No longer do people have to rely on other team members to print plates because they are working from home – everyone can print a plate or badge from anywhere at any time.”
The Impact:
This flexibility has reduced internal dependencies and allowed the team to maintain consistent service levels, even during busy periods.
It has also eased pressure on officers, as expectations from the trade have shifted to a more structured, fairer process.
Drivers now plan renewals earlier, helping to balance workloads throughout the week.
The introduction of Direct Fulfilment has had an immediate and positive effect on Dorset Council’s licensing team.
Previously, only a few officers could manage the plate production process, creating bottlenecks and slowing down turnaround times.
Now, all members of the licensing team can manage orders from start to finish, whether working in the office or remotely.
Product Quality and Trade Feedback
Since the rollout in March, both the council and the trade have responded positively to MOGO’s plate quality and professional finish. The plates have been described as looking “smarter” than before, and early impressions suggest strong durability and consistency across batches.
“The quality of the products is great. It’s a bit early to comment on durability as we’ve only been using them since March, but so far we’ve been pleased and the trade have been very positive about them, saying they look smarter than the previous ones.”
Feedback from drivers and operators has also reflected the improvement. With plates arriving promptly and to a high standard, there has been a noticeable reduction in phone calls and emails chasing collections.
Key Outcome:
Significant reduction in email and phone traffic from drivers requesting to collect plates in person.
Key Stat:
Average turnaround time from order to delivery - 2 days.
Service And Support
MOGO’s delivery performance has been consistently strong, with most orders reaching drivers within two working days.
The streamlined system has improved reliability, while ongoing communication with the MOGO team has ensured any queries or adjustments are handled quickly and professionally.
“The turnaround time by MOGO is excellent. The delivery service is good, with most plates being delivered within two to three days.”
The partnership has also freed the council from the burden of stock management and on-site production, giving officers greater flexibility and job satisfaction.
“I would definitely recommend MOGO and Direct Fulfilment. The benefits are not having to order bits and pieces for plate making every month, not having to have a couple of cupboards full of equipment, a happy team who can all share the printing, the freedom it gives the team to work wherever they want to, and only paying for what you need.”
In Summary
Partnering with Dorset Council on their Direct Fulfilment rollout has been a genuinely rewarding experience.
It’s always satisfying to see our systems make a tangible difference, from freeing up staff time to simplifying everyday admin tasks.
The positive feedback from both officers and drivers speaks volumes.
Since switching to Direct Fulfilment, Dorset Council has:
1. Reduced delivery times to just two working days
2. Cut down inbound driver queries and collection calls
3. Given their team full flexibility to manage orders from anywhere
Let's Work Together
Have a question or want to learn more? Our team is here to help you find the right fulfilment model for your council.
Not every LGR story starts on vesting day. Some of the most useful groundwork happens well before it.
Mole Valley and Tandridge District Councils share a licensing resource, with officers covering both authorities from two offices around 30 to 45 minutes apart. It works day to day, but covering leave, sickness and the December, January and March renewal peaks was genuinely difficult, because plate production and licence issuing were tied to specific people in specific places.
They moved to Direct Fulfilment and went live in under a week. Because the system is centrally hosted, any authorised officer can log in and process a renewal or issue a plate regardless of which office they're usually based in. Cover no longer depends on one person picking up another's workload from scratch.
Both authorities are now heading into the new East Surrey authority, and that shared, location-independent way of working is a considerably easier starting point than two separate in-house setups with their own equipment, stock and processes to reconcile.
Preparing before
reorganisation happens
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