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Insight Part 2: Whilst I’m in the mood to expose some of the trade secrets that lay behind contract hire rates let me delve a little deeper into the area of vehicle pricing and depreciation. Fleet News recently reported some incredible increases in new car costs, mainly as a result of the exchange rate against the Euro. Since January 2008, according to Read more »

Insight Part 1: I’m often asked why there can be some incredible differences between the contract hire rental rates quoted by different companies advertising on the Internet. There is no simple answer to this question, in some respects it is not dissimilar to the answer that an insurance company would give as to why insurance premiums can be Read more »

If you are a regular reader of my postings you know that I rage on about simply taking the cheapest lease rate. In a recent article in Fleet News I found that I wasn’t the only one holding these views, most of the leasing companies do also. In fact it seems that the reason why many large lessors have pulled out of the broker market is that they don’t Read more »

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My review this week isn’t some dopey supercar that no-one can afford and if you spurted away from traffic lights in it on full power would leave your small intestines still waiting at the lights. Nope it is a sensible car, the all new BMW 1 Series. It has been a popular car since its introduction because it enables bakers and other business owners who like Read more »

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I am often asked how the lease rates on some cars can be so low compared to the cost of the car? Take for example the deal we had last year on the VW Passat CC (their new 4 door coupe). If you had taken the car on a 2 year lease you would have paid the equivalent of 26 payments x £229.99 + VAT. That’s a total of £7,175 on a car that cost around Read more »

Whilst I hear many a complaint in the pubs and bars about the fact that you aren’t charged the half percent bank base rate interest when you take a loan or HP, most people understand the reason why. If lenders were to charge half a percent interest they would soon go bust as that wouldn’t cover the cost of the documents let alone all the other costs Read more »

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Been a busy week for me this week, had a board meeting of the NACFB, of which I’m a director on Tuesday 28^th followed by a lovely dinner, hosted by an old friend of the association, Bob Lefroy, editor of Business Money. This all took place at the Birmingham NEC Hilton Metropole and what a hotel that is. Amazing in size and activity. Add in a Neil Read more »

None of us particularly likes to deal with finance, except me of course but then I’m a bit nuts! But finance is like a critical ingredient in a delicious cake. Get it right, choose the right ingredient used in the correct way and magic happens. Get it wrong and all that time and effort and expense results in a total disaster. When customers come to me many haven’t heard Read more »

I’m going to send out some training soon, much of which will address some important car finance issues. One of the main subjects is APR, what it is, how it works and why it’s a complete waste of time. I am on a mission to change the way we look at finance in the UK and why I think that it is important to change attitudes. To give a little taster APR is Read more »

Banks are lending less to leasing companies making life even more difficult for small businesses to secure funding. As of 31^st March 2011 lending to the leasing companies was down by 16% from £28.4 billions the previous year to £23.8 billions. Leasing is seen by many small businesses as an alternative way to fund their vehicles and equipment as Read more »