Dutch courage: facing up to the pandemic
With state support ensuring that relatively few businesses have gone to the wall since the start of the pandemic,…
By
Paul Golden
All Articles
UK: Covid-19 vaccine rollout drives hope for recovery
With the UK asset finance market braced for the impact of Brexit, providers are pinning their hopes that the…
By
Scandinavia: poised for growth as epidemic recedes
Buoyed by a relatively limited economic decline since the start of the pandemic and a highly digitalised client base,…
By
France: Emerging from the pandemic
Paul Golden speaks to the French leasing association and industry figures about how the first half of 2020 stacked…
By
Austria: Leasing powerhouse poised to ride out coronavirus shock
Paul Golden looks back at leasing in 2019 and talks to some industry stalwarts about how they have been…
By
Turkey: Lessors switch to clean energy to turn fortunes around
Renewable energy has become a major focus for lease companies in Turkey as they seek to diversify their businesses…
By
The Balkans: Wary eye on developments
The Balkans: The uneven impact of coronavirus across society has reflected the disparity in the strength of the leasing…
By
Czech Republic: Hopes pinned on a velvet transition out of lockdown
Leasing companies in the Czech Republic are hoping that the country’s relative success in suppressing the spread of Covid…
By
Q&A: with Justin Twiddy of Grenke Ireland
Grenke began as a one-man business founded in Baden-Baden in West Germany in 1978. Originally leasing telephone systems, copiers…
By
Ireland: Shamrock nation braced for U-shaped recovery
The major players in the Irish leasing industry are cautiously optimistic that the decisive steps taken to minimise the…
By
Baltic states on the frontline of change
The lease market in the Baltic states has witnessed some significant changes over the last 18 months. Lessors in…
By
Italy: growth in a fragile environment
A variety of incentive programmes appear to have succeeded in maintaining growth in the Italian lease market despite economic…
ByPassenger cars drive growth in German leasing
A significant increase in passenger car leasing has contributed to healthy overall growth among German lease companies in 2019,…
BySpain: further down the path of recovery
A significant rise in lease activity over the last 12 months has come as a welcome development in Spain,…
ByLeasing in Portugal: recognition and growing SME demand
The revival that started in the middle of this decade continues to gather pace in Portugal, with the industry…
ByPoland: a high-growth European market
The Polish lease industry has reached a number of milestones over the last 12 months, as the domestic market…
ByThe Netherlands: a leasing market in full bloom
The health of the economy, a continued decline in bankruptcies and the national leasing association’s plans to grow awareness…
ByThe Balkans: growing in strategic importance
A strong focus on infrastructure development has contributed to growth in leasing activity across most of the Balkan states,…
ByScandinavia: a question of perspective
Data from the respective leasing associations suggests a disparity in the sector’s performance across Scandinavia, with consistent growth in…
By
Leasing in France: progress and market growth
Strong competition between domestic lease companies, which are among the largest and most dynamic in Europe, continues to fuel…
By
Turkey: an industry in search of stability
Turkish lease market participants are preparing themselves for a challenging 2019 as the country seeks to establish a degree…
By
Ireland: uncertainty tempers optimism
Strong economic growth continues to benefit the Irish lease industry, although regulatory challenges and the ongoing uncertainty around Brexit…
By
The Czech Republic: on a path of reform and growth
Even factors described as a potential brake on the thriving Czech economy are working in favour of the country’s…
By
Baltic states: Europe’s northern lights
An economic upturn across the Baltic states last year provided welcome additional impetus to a lease market that was…
By
Germany: optimism high; expectations scaled back
Mixed messages across the wider economy have done little to dent confidence in the German leasing industry, with growth…
By
Spain: finally time to reach for new heights?
After a decade of economic and political turmoil that would test the resilience of any industry, the lease sector…
By
Artificial intelligence and the new laws of robotics
Artificial intelligence is far from a new concept in the leasing industry. However, research and industry feedback suggest that…
By
Romania: a European leading light
A buoyant economy has directly benefitted the lease industry in Romania, although a competition authority investigation into the activities…
By
Poland: reflecting on double-digit growth
Both recent research and market data suggest the leasing industry in Poland is doing a pretty good job of…
By
The UK: looking outside the box
Paul Golden looks at the evolution of alternative finance and private equity-backed leasing providers in the UK, and considers…
By
Belgium: breaking from convention
Belgium’s leasing sector appears determined to buck the country’s normally sedate image, with industry participants confident that recent strong…
By
French leasing: stability with room for manoeuvre
Data from Grant Thornton’s global business survey shows that only Sweden with 90%, and the US with 89% could…
ByThe Netherlands: where leasing dares to trust in the future
These are good times for Dutch leasing companies, which have managed to build on the upturn in demand in…
By
Country focus: UK in rude health but longer-term concerns persist
While brokers continue to benefit from increased competition for asset finance business, there is a realisation that wider economic…
ByLeasing and the pluck of the Irish
Favourable economic data has boosted confidence amongst asset finance providers in Ireland, although there is a clear recognition that…
By
Back to business as usual?
Having exceeded expectations last year, figures for the first quarter of 2017 already suggest another record year for lease…
By
Germany – back to business as usual?
Having exceeded expectations last year, figures for the first quarter of 2017 already suggest another record year for lease…
By
A new light
Having benefited significantly from state support for business finance in recent years, the Hungarian lease industry is broadly confident…
ByBack on track
Portugal’s slow progress towards throwing off the unwanted title of being one of the weakest eurozone economies following the…
By
Balkan optimism
Ongoing political instability has failed to dampen the optimism of lease industry participants in Bulgaria buoyed by a steady…
By
Cause for optimism in Italy
The country has suffered a few rocky years, but following an encouraging 2015 lease volumes in Italy experienced further…
By
New opportunities: funding growth in France
Tax incentives and a steady (if modest) recovery in the wider economy have given the French lease market a…
By
A story of recovery in Belgium
The Belgian lease market has rebounded strongly over the last 12 months. While lessors cannot fully explain the factors…
By
Forwards for the Netherlands
After several years of negligible growth, the Dutch leasing market took a significant step forward last year on the…
By
Czeching up
The leasing industry in the Czech Republic has benefited from the strong recent performance of its economy; the challenge…
By
Swede taste of optimism
Positivity surrounding the wider economy is boosting lease activity in Sweden as consumers take advantage of low interest rates.…
By
Recession must Finnish soon
A number of years of recession have taken their toll on the Finnish lease market, with the sectors growth…
By
Sluggish growth in Europes strongest market
The subdued nature of the German economy is reflected in the leasing sector, where the forecasts and predictions are…
By
Healthcare software: taking techs temperature
The European medical software market may seem like fertile ground for lease companies, but a detailed understanding of individual…
By
2015: a year of change for UK commercial brokers
While the full impact of recent changes in the UK commercial finance broker market is yet to become clear,…
By
On the up down under
As leasing firms and their customers come to terms with the rebalancing of Australias economy, there is cautious optimism…
By
Digital disruption in the leasing market
While its effects will be felt differently across the industry, disruptive technologies are already impacting the relationship between lease…
By
Georgia and the drag on recovery
Having recovered relatively well from the global financial crisis, external factors are once again threatening Georgias economy although…
By
Big ticket: specialist skills for larger assets
A number of factors are impacting big-ticket leasing volumes across Europe, with changing market conditions contributing to uneven demand.…
By
States of confidence
Mixed economic messages and variable performance within individual industry sectors has failed to dampen optimism among US leasing companies.
By
Hungary regains its appetite
Following a period of stagnation, a banking stimulus programme has enabled the Hungarian lease industry to return to levels…
By
Vehicle leasing beats the trend
Growth in the Austrian lease industry is comfortably outpacing that of the wider economy as growing demand for car…
By
Little to cheer for Brazilian leasing
Despite poor economic indicators, there was hope that the worlds two premier sporting events would provide a boost to…
By
Office space
Paul Golden speaks to markets leaders in the office equipment finance market and finds growth is on the horizon…
By
Germany: Handicapped by red tape
Consolidation and regulation remain issues of concern for those operating in the German lease market, despite the promise of…
By
Happy days are here again
The outlook for US leasing looks much brighter than in recent years as new business volumes rise to pre-recession…
By
Uphill task in the wake of regional strife
With the fallout from the Arab Spring spreading uncertainty, North African leasing companies face an unpredictable future, as Paul…
By
Decline shows signs of slowing down in CEE
After a tough few years there are indications that the worst may be over for the leasing market in…
By
Market toughens for French lessors
Industry leaders expect tough times ahead in the French leasing market, with the notable exception of factoring, observes Paul…
By
Italys decline bottoming out
There are few places the eurozones economic turmoil exacted a greater toll than in Italy. But while lease industry…
By
Baltic States: Northern alliance embraces leasing
After a heavy blow from the global economic crisis, the Baltic states have transformed their economies with a…
By
Scope for growth in China
The pace of economic growth may have slowed, but its relative immaturity leaves plenty of scope for continued expansion…
ByAllied Irish Bank starts up equipment fund
Bailed-out bank channelling funds into asset finance in the Republic of Ireland Allied Irish Bank has established an 85m…
ByFunders retreat from Ireland
The parlous state of the Irish economy means even a slowdown in the rate of decline in commercial activity…
ByTrain staff for success
Paul Golden provides the lowdown on courses for asset finance professionals in the UK. In any downturn, training is…
ByThinking strategically about staff
Paul Golden finds out what the industry is doing to attract, retain and develop staff. There is no common…
ByGrowth during a recession at Societe General Equipment Finance (UK)
In the first of a series of Leasing Life reports on French bank-owned lessors, Paul Golden speaks to the…
BySigns of life
Lease insurance providers have had to adjust their expectations in light of the significant fall in leasing activity over…
By