Aquarius work across the full spectrum of industries operating in road transport, from heavy haulage, plant and aggregates, pallet distribution, waste services, and more, including healthcare.
To reflect this, in the Spring 2025 issue of CONNECTED, we turned the spotlight on the HATS Group, a leading provider of patient transport and home-to-school services for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Subir Gupta chatted to
James Hearty, Director of Fleet Services at HATS Group, and discussed how their fleet operations have been transformed using the benefits brought by Aquarius’s Asset Maintenance, Driver Defect Check and ClockWatcher Elite systems.
Q: James, can you tell us about HATS Group’s journey with Aquarius?
We discovered Aquarius while exploring for integrated solutions capable of streamlining both driver and vehicle compliance. For us, it was critical that our software partner was approved by the DVSA for their Earned Recognition (ER) status. We have always aspired to gain
Earned Recognition status, so a connected platform was essential – one supplier, one system, complete visibility.
Our journey with Aquarius then began in 2020, when we operated around 250 vehicles. Today, our fleet has grown to almost 900 vehicles, a mix of cars, ambulances, minibuses and coaches.
Q: How does HATS utilise Aquarius software across its divisions?
We operate two distinct divisions: Patient Transport Services (ambulances) and Home to School transport (for children with SEND). Aquarius has enabled us to have tailored systems for each of these complex divisions, both with their own regulatory bodies, legislative and contractual requirements. We have set up separate systems for each within Aquarius to ensure clean reporting lines
Gone are the days of spreadsheets – maintenance, defect reporting and compliance are now fully digital. With Aquarius’s Asset Maintenance, we can digitally manage, communicate, connect and report on all aspects of fleet maintenance – as well as other specialist assets like lift, ramps and other medical equipment.
We also found that the integration of the Driver Defect Check and Asset Maintenance was a game changer. We can assign jobs to mechanics instantly, monitor VORs in real time and manage everything from vehicles to medical lifting equipment all through one platform.
Due to efficiency of the Aquarius system, we have been able to transition some of our maintenance in-house saving both time and money. We have consequently been able to open two workshops in London, with plans at an advanced stage to open another in Birmingham. While some maintenance is still outsourced, the Aquarius solution has enabled us to reduce Vehicle Off Road (VOR) incidents significantly.
Q. What about your team?
I can confidently say that the implementation has been well received by everyone involved.
Upskilling our workforce is a priority for HATS – training, apprenticeships and clear progression routes are all part of our culture. As a company, Aquarius shares this people-first ethos.
The digital transformation made possible by Aquarius has afforded colleagues the opportunity to learn more and progress their own careers with HATS, many moving on to more senior roles. In fact, since partnering with Aquarius, we have found more staff successfully passing their CPC and joining our team of Transport Managers.
Q: Working in healthcare, a highly regulated industry, compliance must be a high priority across the whole organisation. How has Aquarius helped with that?
Operating in a heavily regulated environment, compliance is absolutely critical for us. What Aquarius has really given us is complete visibility across our fleet, drivers and maintenance –
everything is logged, tracked and auditable. This allows us to demonstrate safety standards across the board.
With Aquarius, we have live visibility, so we make safer decisions for our patients, staff and the public. It’s compliance, but it’s also about building a system that actively protects everyone involved.
What has also really impressed us, is how Aquarius has helped shift the mindset internally – compliance isn’t just a box-ticking exercise. The system makes it easy for managers, drivers and engineers to engage with their part of the process. That supports the kind of proactive compliance culture that we demand.
If the DVSA or CQC came in tomorrow, we could produce full records instantly – from daily vehicle checks to driver hours and defect rectification. That’s priceless in an environment where missed paperwork or poor record-keeping can have serious consequences. Aquarius reduces that risk significantly.
Q: The Home Schools Division recently moved to tachographs – can you tell us more about that decision?
As the business continues to expand, we wanted to make better use of our extensive fleet of buses. This meant expanding their work beyond just undertaking Home to School transport under domestic rules and transitioning to tachograph. We also knew that this would help us gain ER status with the DVSA.
We implemented ClockWatcher Elite for our tachograph analysis and it has been a tremendous success. A major benefit is that it enables us to redeploy drivers from the school division to support our patient transport services. This flexibility helps us balance peak demand periods.
Q: HATS has expanded significantly in recent years. How has Aquarius supported this growth?
Our growth has been substantial, expanding from around 250 vehicles to nearly 900 in just a few years.
Scaling an operation at that pace could easily become a logistical minefield, but Aquarius’s systems have allowed us to expand without losing control or compromising service delivery.
As our fleet and workforce have grown, so too has the complexity of maintaining regulatory compliance, monitoring driver behaviour and managing operational risks. Aquarius has been instrumental in helping us navigate this, giving us the tools to maintain full compliance and proactively manage risk as standard – not as an afterthought.
Their system provides real-time oversight, allowing us to monitor driver performance, track vehicle status and ensure documentation is always up to date. It’s given us the confidence to scale quickly, knowing that every additional vehicle or new contract doesn’t compromise our standards or create unnecessary exposure.
At HATS, our ‘Can Do’ culture runs through everything we do – it’s not unusual for our CEO to jump behind the wheel if that’s what it takes to get the job done. That mindset has helped us grow, but it’s partnerships like the one we have with Aquarius that make it sustainable. Their support means we stay agile, responsive, and compliant.
Q: Sustainability is a growing focus in the transport sector. How is HATS addressing this?
We feel that we are the pioneers when it comes to green transport in our industry. In 2020, we deployed the UK’s first, purpose built fully electric ambulance in 2020. This year, just a few short years later, we will be delivering the UK’s first, zero emission patient transport contract. We are also rolling out a fleet of zero emissions across our Home to School portfolio, and hope to have the same impact there as we have in PTS soon.
Q: Finally, what’s your overall experience with Aquarius?
Aquarius is more than just a software provider. Their integrated software solutions have streamlined our operations, improved compliance and reduced our administrative burden. The hands-on support from their team is first-class and, as we continue to grow, we know we have a system and a partner that can scale with us.
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