Select Car Leasing Preston celebrates 30 years

Pictured above: Steven Clarke (left) and Tony Cameron celebrating 30 years in the leasing business. Pix by Senem Peace Photography.

CONGRATULATIONS to Steven Clarke and Tony Cameron, the principals of Select Car Leasing Preston, for 30 years in business.

Originally trading as Cameron Clarke Leasing, the Preston-based leasing broker became an Appointed Representative of Select Car Leasing in 2020.

It now operates from the Nelson Court Business Centre in Preston with with 10 sales executives.

So where did it first start?

Steven and Tony first met in the mid-1980s when they were both working for Midland Bank in Manchester before going their own separate ways.

Steven then enjoyed what he calls a ‘baptism of fire’ working as an Account Manager for GE Capital in Manchester, Merseyside, Chester and North Wales, teaching Business Managers within car dealerships how to optimise their finance and insurance sales.

He laughs: “It toughened me up, made me savvy and, looking back, was the best thing that could have happened to me.”

Tony, meanwhile, set up his own commercial finance operation in Preston.

Everything changed in 1993 when Steven visited the British Franchise Exhibition and was tipped-off about Network Vehicles, which specialised in Business Contract Hire, Lease Purchase, and Personal Contract Purchase on all makes and models of cars. Crucially, Network Vehicles was franchising the operation.

Steven called Tony and a business plan was formed. Shortly after, in 1994, Cameron Clarke Leasing was born.

Steven, a music enthusiast who has played in many 80s bands, explains:

“Tony and I put everything we had into it. I got a loan for £7,500, let my company car go - a Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 no less - and we just found a way to make it work. There was no email, no mobile phone, no internet, no social media, no Google - we had the Yellow Pages and the pub, and that’s where you made your contacts and got your business.”

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On becoming a Select AR

Fast forward to 2019 and Steven and Tony met Mark Tongue and James O’Malley, Co-Founders and Joint CEOs of Select Car Leasing, at an Arval conference on the HMS Belfast on the Thames in London.

A year later, Cameron Clarke became the first Appointed Representative of Select Car Leasing, taking advantage of the market specialist’s national buying power and sophisticated online systems. And then the world was plunged into Covid-19 lockdown.

For Steven and Tony, it became a case of ‘all hands to the pump’, as he says: “We put our staff on furlough, and we just worked really hard to make it through.”

As history relates, Select Car Leasing Preston managed to survive and grow.

Steven adds: “The best part of the job? Working with the incredible team we’ve created. I love recruiting, training and working closely with the team as we look forward to future growth.

“As for Tony, we’ve known each other 39 years and we’ve always had each other’s backs. We are different people with our own personalities but we’ve always had the same aims and ambitions. You learn to compromise or else it doesn’t work. We’ve always had an unwritten rule that if one of us feels strongly against a particular plan of action, we don’t do it. It’s as simple as that.”

Steven says that being part of the UK’s biggest leasing broker with all of its heavyweight buying means access to great deals on cars. But while it’s very much a digital space, the personal touch remains.

“We don’t just operate online,” continues Steven. “So if you’re a business looking for a mobility solution, we’ll come out and see you face to face.”

It’s part of the all round business offering from Select Car Leasing Preston – now with 30 years of experience behind them!