All articles by Georgina Lavers
Georgina Lavers
Fleet Friday VII: BVRLA, Volkswagen, ACFO and Zenith
The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) has welcomed the governments review of unnecessary or labyrinthine regulation, known as the Red Tape Challenge Proposals include making V5 documents available on request, not issued automatically; replacing the paper counterpart of UK driving licences with electronic information; and removing the need to present proof of insurance when taxing a vehicle.
Arval sells fuel card business for £194m
Arval, the fleet leasing subsidiary of BNP Paribas, announced the sale of its fuel card business AllStar to fleet card provider FleetCor Technologies for £194m Inherited from a 2000 acquisition, the UK fuel card business was a unique activity within Arval, but expansion difficulties and the niche quality of the sector led them to shop around for a buyer. Bart Beckers, general manager of Arval UK, said: Weve known FleetCor for a number of years; they were one of the typical industry players that we had contact with
02 targets SMEs with iPhone leasing
Mobile network operator O2 has launched a leasing scheme designed to target consumers and SMEs that want to use the latest Apple iPhone without committing to a long-term contract.O2 said in a statement: We believe that the leasing model will work for those small businesses who want the latest smartphone and the latest technology, but either cant afford the relatively high upfront cost of a normal contract, or dont want to be tied to a long contract. Business can sign up for the service from £45mth for a 16GB iPhone 4S, with the most expensive option being £85mth for unlimited minutes on a 64GB iPhone
3 is a magic number for Barclays Corporate
Richard Pretty joins as a relationship director within the Strategic Asset Finance team, focusing on big-ticket deals for the Barclays Corporates clients outside the UK
Aldermore appoints invoice finance director
Aldermore has promoted Nick Smith to regional managing director of its invoice finance business in Yorkshire Smith, who is based in Aldermores Cleckheaton office, joined the bank in May 2010, a year after it first launched, as sales development director with more than 18 years experience in commercial finance Prior to joining Aldermore, he worked for the Davenham Group where he was business development manager for Yorkshire and the North East, and also had a 13-year stint in international banking at HBOS
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Peaks and troughs for PCFG
UK-based Private & Commercial Finance Group (PCFG) recorded an increase in funding and pre-tax profit, and a loss in turnover for the 6 month period ended 30 September 2011 Profit before tax was £241,901, a 61% improvement from the £150,302 recorded for the same period in 2010 The return on average portfolio assets increased to 0.5 %, and total net assets grew by 12% to £8.2m
Aldermore recruits structured finance team
Aldermore has recruited a team of seasoned financial professionals to develop a structured finance offering for UK SMEs The line-up is led by Ian Flaxman, with support from Simon Maddocks and Peter Raybould Flaxman, appointed head of structured finance, joined the growing UK bank from Credit Agricole Commercial Finance, where he was strategic director
Oak Leasing signs deal with Biospace
UK broker Oak Leasing has signed a contract with scientific development laboratory Biospace Lab to provide finance on its pre-clinical imaging systems to its European customers A spokesperson for Biospace Lab said: A major benefit of leasing biomedical research equipment in this way is that it provides a way of acquiring the most modern facilities for carrying out cutting edge research without the need for large capital equipment grants, or Capex budget allocations.
An eyeful for Premier Leasing
Lease broker Premier Leasing & Finance (PLF) has signed a two year contract with the Association of Optometrists (AOP) to be the sole provider of finance products for all of their members from January 2012 The lease and loan products will be for a range of optical equipment, including OPG machines, sight testing chairs and all other practice equipment, as well as finance for lab refurbishment, vehicles and IT equipment The transaction value will range from £1,000 to £250,000, and PLF expect to see £1m in annual contracts as a result of the arrangement
ABFA shows £1.4bn rise in invoice finance
Invoice finance showed promising growth in the third quarter of 2011, according to statistics released by the AFBA Total funding by the Asset Based Finance Associations members to businesses this quarter reached £16bn, an increase of 9% or £1,4bn year-on-year, and security values were £34.61bn, an increase from £31.36bn recorded in the third quarter of 2010