Car lease broker Concept Vehicle Leasing (CVL) is not, as one might
at first thought assume from its name, a company which specialises
in offering customers the chance to experience the thrill of
driving an experimental concept car. But in its own way, CVL is
quietly changing the rules, as a motor finance broker for both
corporate and private customers – which also offers standalone
fleet management and maintenance products to its clients.
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Paul Bulloch, managing director of Surbiton-based CVL, explains
that the broker’s Serviceplan product gives corporate customers a
“comprehensive” range of management and maintenance solutions –
regardless of how the fleet is funded. As far as Bulloch is
concerned, offering fleet management and maintenance is “another
string to our bow”, and another way of “adding value”, helping to
retain current clients, and to win new ones.
Serviceplan for fleet management customers, piloted with existing
clients from October of last year, was officially launched on July
7 2008. It incorporates health and safety management and essential
preventative maintenance, which aids corporate customers’ adherence
to duty of care requirements. Drivers are able to contact CVL
online or over the phone, and management information is available
for the fleet decision maker.
Maintenance-only agreements, meanwhile, are available to both
consumer and fleet customers, and are provided through arrangements
with larger groups – the RAC for breakdown, and Kwik Fit for tyres.
“This means we can offer comprehensive coverage without the need
for a huge team of staff,” Bulloch explains.
In addition, CVL runs a number of affinity schemes with employers.
Bulloch explains: “Affinity schemes give certain benefits and
discounts on products and services, and we do not charge anything
to set them up. For example, if a company’s staff are included in
an employee car ownership scheme, we can work with the employer to
provide a tailored employee offering to help staff get the most out
of their allowance.” Duty of care requirements can be rolled in, as
required: “We encourage employers to include maintenance in
employee car policy schemes to manage duty of care, although this
is down to individual companies to implement.” The largest affinity
deal CVL has is with an estate agent, for which it provided an
affinity fleet of over 80 vehicles.
CVL’s customer base is “60:40 corporate:consumer”, with up to 80
per cent of consumer clients “in receipt of a car allowance”,
Bulloch says, and the company is a Leasing Broker member of the
BVRLA.
Online business
The internet is crucial to CVL’s business model, and Bulloch is
proud of the CVL website, http://www.conceptvehicleleasing.co.uk/,
launched in April, which he says offers browsers a “powerful and
compelling” range of online tools and options. Designing and
building the bespoke website was “a long and painful process”, he
says, but one which has “more than paid off the effort and money we
put into it”. Until recently, 88 per cent of CVL’s new business
volume came from existing relationships, but Bulloch says the new
site has helped to grow the proportion of new sales sourced from
the web.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up the bulk of CVL’s
corporate customer base, with several SME customers operating
fleets of between 50 and 110 units. Last year, CVL funded over 700
units, to a total value of just under £14m.
The market is tough for brokers at the moment, Bulloch says: “We’ve
seen an impact with corporate customers extending contracts and
putting back renewals.” Business levels for 2008 will be on a par
with 2007’s figures, Bulloch anticipates, barring any major
macroeconomic catastrophe.
However, he thinks that CVL’s unique business model will help to
insulate the company from the worst effects of the credit crunch.
“With our wide product range, we don’t have to rely on any one
sector for the majority of our profits – so we don’t have all our
eggs in one basket,” he points out. “We’re still writing enough
paper every month.”
