I'll post more information as it comes, however the tax system is now working favourably to once again offer cars that are not necessarily essential for business!
Imagine a young graduate taking a job on the greasy pole in to corporate world. They need a car to transport themselves to work and back. It may well be more cost effective to take a fuel efficient Company Vehicle and pay say £135/month tax. The same new car could be 3 times this cost on a personal basis! The cost to the business would have to be managed but with the total cost of a reasonable Contract Hire car around £3000/year the right sums can add up. A car is worth £5000 to most people, it's a win-win situation.
Therefore it makes sense to offer a car instead of a pay rise or to tie in the talent in the interview room!
Friday, 12 October 2007
Monday, 1 October 2007
First Game of the Season
With my lacrosse team Rochdale back in the top flight we had been expecting a tough season. After a full summer of training and hard work Saturday was the season opener against Double-Champions Stockport Lacrosse Club
After an upbeat warm-up we were quickly reminded of our new-boy status and given a sporting education from a line-up of English Lacrosse stars.
For people interested in the sport of lacrosse http://www.laxforums.co.uk/ is full of discussion, results and debate from this hugely growing sport. As the number of users approached 2700 there may even be reasonable opportunities to work alongside the site to advertise and promote your business.
After an upbeat warm-up we were quickly reminded of our new-boy status and given a sporting education from a line-up of English Lacrosse stars.
For people interested in the sport of lacrosse http://www.laxforums.co.uk/ is full of discussion, results and debate from this hugely growing sport. As the number of users approached 2700 there may even be reasonable opportunities to work alongside the site to advertise and promote your business.
Thursday, 20 September 2007
My Ideal Christmas Present
I noticed the local garden centre has started preparing for the festive season (cue the groans and 'commercialisation' comments).
Well I just got excited again about one Christmas morning waking up to having a car on my drive which I can use for fun just like the Caterham.
The top of the range CSR hits 0-60 in 3.1 seconds wow!! Whilst you can get a more basic Classic 1.4 for less than £13,000.
I'm pretty sure with all the talk of Health & Safety that I won't be driving my fun car to work!! I might just have to hope for a track day - hint hint!!
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
Driver Briefings
I've literally just put the phone down to a friend of mine who's been involved in a minor scrape in the hire car provided to them by the company she works for.
The brief yet eye-opening conversation centred around the fact that she had never had any kind of introduction to driving for the company she works for. Therefore at this moment I can imagine a bit "thank goodness she's ok we could have got in trouble" amongst the management team.
The scenario:
Lots of young, keen and willing staff on short term employment contracts PLUS appointments all over the UK.
Starbucks is covered some mornings by the boss yet the hire cars are the cheapest out there.
My impression is that the company my friend works for is struggling to plan the transport, scrimping on rentals and not informing staff of what to do in simple situations like a 'scrape', puncture or other minor fault.
The solution: When new staff start, check the driving licences, ensure they are covered under insurance and produce some kind of driver handbook for them to refer to, keeping a copy in the office as well.
Even better if the possibility of causing distress to the staff doesn't encourage change maybe with a bit more planning they could look in to providing better cars over the longer term by speaking to me! I guess money talks!
The brief yet eye-opening conversation centred around the fact that she had never had any kind of introduction to driving for the company she works for. Therefore at this moment I can imagine a bit "thank goodness she's ok we could have got in trouble" amongst the management team.
The scenario:
Lots of young, keen and willing staff on short term employment contracts PLUS appointments all over the UK.
Starbucks is covered some mornings by the boss yet the hire cars are the cheapest out there.
My impression is that the company my friend works for is struggling to plan the transport, scrimping on rentals and not informing staff of what to do in simple situations like a 'scrape', puncture or other minor fault.
The solution: When new staff start, check the driving licences, ensure they are covered under insurance and produce some kind of driver handbook for them to refer to, keeping a copy in the office as well.
Even better if the possibility of causing distress to the staff doesn't encourage change maybe with a bit more planning they could look in to providing better cars over the longer term by speaking to me! I guess money talks!
Friday, 7 September 2007
Yet more safety concerns
Daily rental group Enterprise have released research showing that over half of SME's allow employees to use their own car for business use.This is bordering on dangerous ground when it comes to Duty of Care issues as employers have a responsibility to ensure their drivers are using vehicles which are 'fit for purpose'.
If on occasion you are tempted to allow your employees to go out in their own cars you should treat them as you do your Company Car drivers.
- Is the vehicle fit for purpose i.e motorways, building sites etc
- Are they insured for business use?
- Have you checked their licence and insurance?
More information can be found in this document - we have plenty of hard copies if you would like us to forward it on to you.
If your staff are frequently on the move in their own vehicles it may be in your interest to look at getting a 'pool car'. Keep it on the premises to rake back all the VAT and ensure that all your staff have access to a safe, reliable vehicle during office hours.
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
People meeting People
I've just read an interesting article about small businesses requiring full account management over web-based solutions being offered by the large corporates. As we deal with many of these large Funding companies on the behalf of our clients, we have yet to find an offering that replaces good, old fashioned, independent advice and assistance. In fact the quotes from the article come from one of our funding partners- Network Vehicles.
This makes a whole lot of sense, just like any product or service from web-design to PR, IT to Telecoms the average business owner places the order with the people who help take their problems away. The phone will always have a place with us (as will meetings) - do you think you could procure for your business purely online?
This makes a whole lot of sense, just like any product or service from web-design to PR, IT to Telecoms the average business owner places the order with the people who help take their problems away. The phone will always have a place with us (as will meetings) - do you think you could procure for your business purely online?
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Watchdog for Leasing Brokers!
Well the BVRLA (British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association) are finally putting a working group together to focus on the leasing broker market in the UK. It seems anyone can set up as a 'bedroom broker' and a fancy website alongside some 'deals of the month' can hide the (sometimes) unscrupulous operators behind them.
There are some great brokers out there who provide excellent service and the best deals to boot, it is those that will also value the importance of increasing standards, efficiency and movement away from the 'Deal of the Month' market currently taking the industry by storm.
We can't wait to hear the end of:
"Delivery next week sir, not a problem...... just sign here"
"Well the price you saw excluded metallic paint, delivery, floor mats and a £200 documentation fee"
Remember if it sounds too good to be true it probably is... our BVRLA accreditation means we won't play those games!
We see ourselves as fleet providers, shopping the market for our clients to save them time & money. Effectively outsourcing the headache of fleet away from their core business - no matter how many vehicles they run!
There are some great brokers out there who provide excellent service and the best deals to boot, it is those that will also value the importance of increasing standards, efficiency and movement away from the 'Deal of the Month' market currently taking the industry by storm.
We can't wait to hear the end of:
"Delivery next week sir, not a problem...... just sign here"
"Well the price you saw excluded metallic paint, delivery, floor mats and a £200 documentation fee"
Remember if it sounds too good to be true it probably is... our BVRLA accreditation means we won't play those games!
We see ourselves as fleet providers, shopping the market for our clients to save them time & money. Effectively outsourcing the headache of fleet away from their core business - no matter how many vehicles they run!
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