the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) has outstripped that of
the hotel business and the aircraft/spacecraft industry, according
to a study carried out on the association’s behalf by Oxford
Economics.
The report, FLA Members’ contribution to the UK economy, is the
first ever study of its kind of the finance industry. It concluded
that FLA members directly injected £7.6bn into UK GDP in 2007. Some
167,000 jobs are supported by asset, motor and consumer finance in
the UK, while 28 per cent of business capital investment was put
down to the work of FLA members, the study found.
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FLA members were found to finance £5.6bn of consumer expenditure on
new cars, and a third of total spending on cars. New car finance
was named by FLA consumer finance members as the most important use
to which consumers put their funds, with used car finance the
fourth most important.
FLA director-general Stephen Sklaroff emphasised the importance of
motor finance at the report’s launch, adding that the rolling
annual total for motor finance is up 5 per cent in value and 6 per
cent in volume for new cars, and 3 per cent and 2 per cent
respectively for used cars. “Members have responded positively to
the credit crunch, and their activities will help the UK weather
the economic storm – or squall,” he said.
The finance and leasing sector, according to the report, will “play
a vital role in future economic growth” for the UK, not only
through direct action but also through a stimulating effect on
consumer spending and manufacturing. “If the sector did not exist
and even allowing for some replacement finance, there would be
690,000 fewer jobs in five years’ time, and GDP would be 2.4 per
cent lower,” the report said.
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