CVs run by UK businesses travelled more than 30% further in June than in May as the UK economy began to emerge from lockdown, according to fuel card firm Allstar.
It says businesses travelled an estimated 2.51bn miles further in June than in the previous month – a 30.2% rise.
Allstar has revealed the figures with the launch of its new Business Barometer, which it says will be tracking business mileage as a way of seeing how quickly each sector of the economy is recovering.
It says the biggest month-on-month mileage increase was seen from a sector perceived to be hardest hit by lockdown – arts, entertainment, and recreation, with mileage up by 101.6%.
There were also big rises in education (47.8%), wholesale and retail (46%), manufacturing (40.5%), and construction (34.3%).
The rebound was less severe in essential services like transportation (22.1%), utilities (20.2%), and agriculture, forestry and fishing (11.3%).
Meanwhile health and social care mileage was up by 17%.
Paul Holland, MD of UK fuel at Allstar’s parent company Fleetcor, said: “It comes as no surprise that a significant impact has been felt across the board but every litre of fuel used since lockdown tells its own story of a business adapting, and often diversifying, to meet changing needs.
“It’s promising to see further signs of recovery as vehicle fleets that were mothballed in full lockdown have begun to re-emerge, helped by fuel prices broadly remaining at a four-year low.
“Looking ahead, the pace at which businesses return to a more normalised performance and whether we see a change in patterns of business travel and an ongoing increase in home deliveries will be fascinating.”