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10. Michael O'Shea, Volkswagen, national fleet sales manager (New Entry)
O'Shea stepped into the large shoes of Vince Kinner in March, after the long-standing VW fleet boss moved up to a new role with responsibility across VW Group. O'Shea has worked for Volkswagen for a total of 12 years, the last three of which were as national fleet sales manager.
9. Richard Parkin, Glass's, director of valuations and analysis (New Entry)
Parkin joined the rapidly expanding Glass's in October last year from accountancy giant Ernst & Young, where he was an automotive-focused strategy consultant, and he now has responsibility for setting used values as Glass's seeks to progress in the corporate sector by impinging on rival Cap's territory.
8. Martin Ward, Cap, manufacturer relations manager (No Change)
The opinionated Ward is the person from residual value experts Cap who gets early access to new vehicles and feeds back to the manufacturers on a variety of residual value-effecting elements, from naming to equipment and pricing.
7. Damian James, Association of Car Fleet Operators, chairman (New Entry)
Taking over from Julie Jenner in June, James is the head of operations for Bracknell Forest Council and has stepped up from deputy to lead the car fleet operators' association having been a director for the past three years. Also a BusinessCar Techie Awards judge and former BusinessCar blogger, James previously acted as chairman of ACFO's South-West and Wales region.
6. James Taylor, Vauxhall, fleet sales director (No Change)
There's a renewed sense of positivity around Vauxhall's corporate sales, and that's been driven in part by residual value improvements after the brand stuck to its promise to make big reductions in its short-cycle business. That meant it dropped more than 20,000 units behind Ford in the fleet sales chart last year, but it is in better shape going forward, with the 99g/km Insignia setting a new sector benchmark.
5. Richard Schooling , Alphabet, chief executive (No Change)
The acquisition of ING Car Lease, completed just over two years ago, propelled BMW-owned leasing firm Alphabet into the UK's top three leasing companies, and the company now has well over 100,000 vehicles in its portfolio. BusinessCar's reigning Service Supplier of the Year is also developing its Alphacity pool vehicle system.
4. Phil Hollins, Ford, director of fleet operations (New Entry)
Not quite the highest new entry in this year's list, Hollins took up the position of heading up Ford's fleet operation, across cars and light commercial vehicles, at the beginning of 2013 after previous incumbent Kevin Griffin moved on to lead Ford's European LCV operation. Hollins is in charge of the UK's largest fleet brand and is working on the build-up to the delayed new Mondeo, due around 12 months from now.
3. David Brennan, Leaseplan, managing director (No Change)
Brennan is heading towards eight years in charge of the UK arm of the world's largest vehicle management company. Activities in 2013 included the launch of a new, free company car tax guide developed with Deloitte. The firm is also looking at developing the travel-budget alternative to the company car it has launched in Holland. The programme gives a monthly allowance that can be spent on a variety of travel methods including car rental, trains and even bicycles.
2. Tim Porter, Lex Autolease, managing director (New Entry)
There was a change at the top of the UK's largest contract hire and leasing business this year, when Tim Porter replaced Rick Francis in May. Despite the acquisitions and growth among the other big leasing players, it still takes putting the second, third and fourth leasing firms together to beat Lex's 270,000 vehicles across around 60,000 customers. Porter has in excess of 20 years of finance and business experience, and was previously with Lex Autolease parent Lloyds Banking Group as commercial director of the SME division.
1. George Osborne, Government, chancellor (No Change)
It was another big Budget for the fleet market from Osborne this year, effectively setting out the state of the benefit-in-kind taxation system until April 2017, while the future of ultra low-emission vehicles was also finally cleared up. Cars below 76g/km will have a BIK incentive until at least April 2020, with a distinction being made at 50g/km or below that will see further benefits for company drivers. First-year writing-down allowances were also tweaked, dropping from sub-96g/km to 75g/km or less for the three years from April 2015. Osborne also pledged to maintain the announcement of BIK bands three years in advance to help the decision-making process, which means the spring 2014 Budget should contain details of the 2017-18 tax year rates.
The spectacular year of change among those people leading influential business car companies and organisations means some star names have exited the list, a few of which of which have been there since the very first Power List in 2006, such as Ford's Kevin Griffin, the BVRLA's John Lewis, ACFO's Julie Jenner and Vince Kinner of VW.
Changes of leadership for Lex Autolease, Arval and ALD Automotive mean new names on the list for three of the top five leasing firms, with Rick Francis and Bart Beckers dropping out, and Keith Allen dropping down as he trades ALD for ARI.
We've lost Renault from the top 50 as its fleet influence wanes, and we've also dropped Toyota's hybrid boss as range-extenders surpass the petrol-electric technology for UK firms looking for serious emission reduction. Prime Minister David Cameron has also been removed, as at present his minions George Osborne and Patrick McLoughlin are doing the business on his behalf in the Treasury and Department for Transport respectively.
Others replaced this year include Paul Sansom at Audi, after the brand appointed James Douglas as its fleet boss, and from an organisation perspective, Su McLean-Tooke of HM Treasury, Simon Tse of the DVLA and the SMMT's Paul Everitt have all sought pastures new.
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