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10 Ed Hummel Glass's, Managing director (New entry)
Former Honda fleet boss Hummel is about to step up and take over from Ian Tilbrook as the boss of the UK arm of EurotaxGlass's. There's a mood of resurgence at Glass's, and it is increasing its profile, voice and product offering to the market, with GlassForecast a particular area of interest as the firm finally seeks to challenge Cap in the area of future value prediction.
9 Martin Ward Cap, Manufacturer relations manager (Down one)
Never shy of voicing an opinion, Cap's Ward is the leading external authority consulted by manufacturers in terms of how vehicles should be specced and brought to market to achieve the healthiest residual value. It is this high profile that keeps him one spot above his Glass's rival.
8 Gerry Keaney British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, Chief executive (Up four)
Keaney has ensured the BVRLA is increasingly vocal - both in public and in lobbying - on a whole range of issues affecting the industry, including the abolition of the driving licence counterpart and tax disc to the removal of toll booths from the Dartford crossing and low-emission car incentives.
7 John Pryor Association of Car Fleet Operators, Chairman (New entry)
ACFO's third chairman in 18 months, Pryor is in charge of all travel across clothing giant Arcadia Group, and has been an ACFO member for 18 years. A key focus of his tenure as chairman will be to push the point that even if fleet managers outsource, they still need to have knowledge of how their fleets operate within the firm.
6 James Taylor Vauxhall, Fleet sales director (No change)
A new and refined 1.6-litre diesel going across the range has been a boost for the UK's number two fleet manufacturer this year, as has the revised Insignia's class-leading emissions figure of 98g/km. Taylor stated last year that Vauxhall is still aiming to knock Ford off the top spot for retail and true fleet registrations.
5 Richard Schooling Alphabet GB, Chief executive (No change)
Lease firm Alphabet continues to grow, recording an increase of more than 12,000 units last year, and is also developing its industry-leading Alphaelectric EV and Alphacity car-sharing programmes, having appointed a new business development manager across both programmes and launching a free five-car trial on the latter.
4 Matt Dyer Leaseplan UK, Managing director (New entry)
Dyer stepped up from his previous role as commercial director earlier this year to replace the Nexus Vehicle Management-bound David Brennan. Dyer has a number of plans in the offing, including a big upgrade of Leaseplan's digital offering, and more retail-driven leasing.
3 Phil Hollins Ford, Director, fleet operations (Up one)
It's been a year of two halves for Hollins: the first half focused on the revamp of Ford's LCV offering through the new Transit, Connect and Courier introductions, and the second half was the build-up to the new Mondeo and revised Focus, coming before the end of 2014. They will be followed next year by equivalent versions of the respective people carriers after the recent reveal of the facelifted C-max and new S-max as Ford seeks to maintain its leading position in car fleet and in LCV registrations in the UK.
2 Tim Porter Lex Autolease, Managing director (No change)
Lex Autolease now has more than 290,000 vehicles on its funded fleet, more than the next two - Leaseplan and Alphabet - put together. That figure includes growth of more than 10,000 units in the first half of this year, coming mainly from an increase in its commercial vehicle division, which the company is hoping to push further from its current 70,000 units into six figures. Porter has also joined the BVRLA's management committee, increasing his industry influence.
1 George Osborne Government, Chancellor (No change)
The Treasury's push to reclaim more revenue from company car drivers has kept George Osborne at the top of the BusinessCar Power List for 2014, although it might be his last appearance for a while, depending on the result of the General Election next year.
The chancellor's move to sharply increase company car benefit-in-kind bands guarantees big hikes in tax for anyone driving a fleet car, regardless of how efficient it is, with Treasury figures predicting that the BIK band increases - which will put the minimum for conventional company cars at 19% - will rake in an additional £720m.
The good news at least is that the industry will get plenty of warning, with annual tax year rates confirmed all the way out to April 2019. Ultra low-emission vehicles will continue to receive incentives to help drive acceptance and uptake. With that General Election looming, it will be interesting to see whether Osborne tries to give anything back to business car drivers in his final Budget before the big day.
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