AS we prepare to park 2020 behind its COVID-19 face mask, it’s worth reflecting on some of the major trends in the leasing broker sector. Many of the changes were accelerated by the impact of coronavirus – in similar fashion to the way coronavirus accelerated trends already evident in society as a whole – such as the focus on improved digitisation, and…
HYBRIDS have had something of a reprieve lately: hybrids were originally believed to be part of the on-sale cull of petrol and diesel vehicles brought forward to 2030. However, the recent government 10 Point Plan to decarbonise the UK still bans petrol and diesel cars from that date, but hybrid vehicles will be allowed to continue until 2035. Admittedly there is still…
CASH: I’m not sure the last time I actually used ‘physical money’ since the pandemic started in March, preferring contactless card transactions delivered digitally and securely, rather than notes touched by humans. But cash still has a role to play in company car provision, whether that’s a company car, salary sacrifice car or a cash alternative. Provision of a car remains an…
TYPE into your search engine of choice – OK, Google then – and enter salary sacrifice cars. At the latest count there were 13.4m entries about salary sacrifice. Following the benefit in kind changes in April 2020, salary sacrifice has become widely talked about as a way for drivers to go green by driving electric cars or plug-in hybrids, and for companies…
Chief executive of Agility Group, Keith Townsend, explains to editor Ralph Morton how the company’s recent MBO will help Agility Fleet take a more progressive approach to the funding market AT the beginning of September, managing director Keith Townsend, along with operations director and long term partner Jacki Stevenson, completed a management buyout (MBO) of the business they had been running: Agility…
THE changes made by HMRC to company car benefit in kind (BIK) tax from April this year effectively ruled out most ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) cars for business cars. Not all, that’s true. But most have become increasingly uncompetitive on BIK tax. The focus on clean air, particularly in urban areas, and the government’s urgency to bring forward the banning of all…
Helen Lees, the head of Free2Move Mobility & Connected Services, explains what the changes mean – and what leasing brokers can expect in the future. Most leasing brokers will have come across Free2Move Lease as the B2B funder behind Citroen and Peugeot dealer contract hire. Although, rather like BMW-owned Alphabet and Toyota owned Kinto (formerly Inchcape Fleet Solutions), the brand also…
With Mitsubishi announcing its withdrawal from Europe, what impact will this have on brokers? Broker News put the questions to Clive Messenger, general manager of fleet operations. Apart from the shock to yourselves and to Mitsubishi dealers, this news of the gradual cessation of European sales will have a substantial impact on leasing brokers. What do you have to say to them?…