Thursday 11 December 2008

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's been a couple of weeks since the last post from Anthony K - sorry about that, it has been HECTIC!

There are so many special deals, offers and incentives from dealers to get cars arranged before Christmas it really is a great time to lease. In fact we are helping them along nicely by even offering to pay off existing lease agreements early to take advantage of pre-Christmas rates!

On top of having more enquiries than we've ever had, we've been speaking to other fleet stakeholders such as Ralph Morton at the online magazine Business Car Manager. We had a telephone interview on Friday which went very well indeed (see article 89 on his blog)

It's the big day tomorrow in Manchester, how did you vote?

"What for?" I hear you ask ! The Proposed Congestion Charge. Most of the people I know voted against the charge, whilst it seems those saying 'yes' in the main would be unaffected OR able to take advantage of any new transport links.

The results are returned at midday tomorrow, The Manchester Evening News are doing live updates - let's see what happens! Jim Syncox Manchester Blog has lots of news and commentary regarding the charge - have a look here !

I'll be back soon for comments on the results!

Thursday 27 November 2008

Sole Supply and Why It Pays To Use a Broker

News emerged today that Alphabet leasing are changing their business plan for 2009, resulting in them pitching for less business and honoring existing contracts only. The reasons behind this include access to funding and an almost certain price increase full story

Existing clients may now be inclined to to shop the market and see just how competitive current suppliers really are. We've noticed increased price sensitivity in the market which is opening up the medium to larger fleets to be more receptive to our message. "We shop the market whilst you benefit from sole supply service".

Rates are changing on a daily basis for some funders, some (to remain nameless) are literally pricing themselves out of the market for new business whilst passing increasing prices on to existing clients. If you know anyone who could benefit from a market analysis from Anthony K we'll happily show them comparative figures from our broad range of finance partners to demonstrate the savings which can be made using a reputable broker (like us!)

Tuesday 25 November 2008

SME's Turn to Leasing In Uncertain Times

Once again the Fleet News is banging the leasing drum as fleets purchasing their vehicles suffer from decreasing resale values.

6 months ago we carried out a Whole Life Cost analysis of a Contract Hire v's Outright Purchase on a standard fleet car , 22,000 miles/year over 3 years.

Without getting too technical (leave that to the accountants) we concluded that Contract Hire - in this particular case was just in favour by a few pounds. The same analysis today suggests leasing is £2000 better, due mainly to the losses made at disposal.

So, leasing in a downturn:
  • Low Deposit, typically 3 payments
  • Set monthly payments ease cashflow
  • Set maintenance budgets - avoid future rises
  • Pass the risk to a 3rd party - why worry about resale values?
  • Fabulous deals available due to attractive discounts to firms like us
  • Brokers like us to seek out the deal for you

If your business requires the professional advice that can save £2000 on just 1 fleet car, feel free to give me a call on 0161 655 3200.

Tuesday 18 November 2008

Fleet News 50

Apologies for being a little late with this one, however last week the highly anticipated Fleet News 50 landed on my desk.

Interesting reading all round, with a few articles regarding the way forward for businesses to deal with reputable, professional brokers (like ourselves) to get the best rates and service from an industry which is changing daily

However back to the main topic of the publication it was great to see that Anthony K Associates deal with all 5 of the Top 5 leasing companies (in terms of fleet size). A further 7 funding partners are in the Top 30 allowing us to use the largest and most competitive funding for fleets of any size

Wednesday 12 November 2008

Rochdale Lacrosse Club

Rochdale Lacrosse Club has finally got themselves a great new website

This sport has given me and my family some of the best times both and and off the field.

Please check out the site, for photos, match reviews and news of social events. If your business can help develop lacrosse in Rochdale beyond drop me a line.

It would also be great to speak to any ex-Lacrosse players through business!

Network Sets High Standards for Brokers

Small businesses, wishing to lease cars through brokers, can look forward to higher standards.
From January 2009, all Network brokers will have to be British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) approved.


It is a significant step to raise standards. Network represents the largest group of franchised brokers in the UK – 210 in total. Car funding and the Network franchise infrastructure is provided by leasing giant LeasePlan.


Tim Hudson, commerical director for LeasePlan, explained: “We take our position as industry leader very seriously. As a result we can’t focus simply on signing as many brokers as possible and pushing through as many sales as we can. Instead, our focus should be on setting and maintaining standards for a select group of elite brokers.”

Click here to read the full article

Click here to learn more about Anthony K Vehicle Leasing


Monday 13 October 2008

Newsfeed - Now at www.anthonyk.co.uk

All my updates and news can now be seen at our new website .

Some great articles on fleet, safety, facts & figures and of course pages and pages of amazing special deals !

I'd love some feedback about the site and looking forward to hearing from you in the future!

Friday 8 February 2008

Fleet Cars Reduce Impact on the Environment

Just reading through some news from the BVLRA (British Vehicle Leasing and Renal Association) and found an interesting article on the impact of business cars on the environment.

It seems that although business is responsible for a large number of vehicles on the road however they are most likely to be taking action against 'dirty' cars. The average fleet car has a emissions of 157.4g/km of Co2, a huge reduction of 3 million tonnes over the last four years.

Anthony K Associates actively quote and refer to the C02 impact of each car we deal with in order to assist businesses with their environmental goals. It's damage limitation and the message is getting through!

Tuesday 29 January 2008

Sat Nav Nightmares!

The MEN have run a story about a 'Sat Nav Shortcut' taking drivers above the moors above Oldham and them getting stuck!

Click here for the full story and pictures

I think we can call that a slight glitch in the system! However I'd definitely be thinking twice before taking my brand new Company Car up a rocky, muddy and dark lane instead of the A-Road i've just turned off !