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He adds that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is probably the strongest incentive for businesses to go down the electric route - even bearing in mind the theoretical cost savings - and that requirements for big businesses to report and publish their CO2 outputs won't necessarily shame them into action.
"Probably the more important point has been to do more of this because of the CSR impact of it. That's a very important part.
"Yes, they need to report [on CO2 levels], but reporting doesn't make you change your mindset. What makes you change your mindset is your responsibility, or your feeling that you are responsible for something, or eventually the financial impact of it. It's here we want to be able to provide good information and good advice. We are probably more CSR-aware and sensitive, so we can pass this message through our consulting team to our customers."
As for the leasing industry as a whole, Dilly thinks it's in rude health: "After two weeks in the role, it's a bit hard for me to say, but the market is in good shape. It's a well-organised market and basically delivers what people are expecting. It's a financially healthy market and almost all of our competitors are very professional in what they do."
He does, however, think the shape of traditional contract hire is changing to a degree. He anticipates more of a deviation from the standard-issue three-year, 60,000-mile lease in future, with a marked shift towards shorter contracts, such as the 84-day-plus Minilease contracts the firm introduced earlier this year.
"The needs of our customers are changing. If they have contractors for one year, they may need cars for one year. If they have a contract for six months, they may need cars for six months. The thing is, it's not for us to say 'you need to enter into a [long-term] contract with us' - if they have a need for six months then we need to be able to offer them six months. Working flexibility is something that is changing very fast, especially in difficult times, so we need to adapt our offer to that.
"It's not always the case, as three-year contracts still make up the bulk of our business. I think the demand [for shorter leases] will increase in the coming years, exactly for the reason I've just given. I'm not sure the companies are very happy with that because it's more administrative work for them and it is, to a degree, a bigger stress to manage, but we have to go with it."
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