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BVRLA moves to boost funding in leasing sector
Date: 13 May 2011
The BVRLA has set up a steering group to boost the availability of funding in the vehicle rental and leasing sector following the recession.
The Funding Steering Group aims to help funders understand the industry and its related risks and rewards and the BVRLA claims it is already working with six new funders to evaluate the opportunities and product requirements for new entrants to the sector. ??"This group has been created to help replace some of the liquidity lost since the Credit Crunch as banks have struggled to build up their balance sheets and improve their flow of lending," said BVRLA boss, John Lewis. ?? H e said the rental and leasing sector had weathered the financial storm and that it was time to help lenders return to the market.
"I am confident that there is new finance available for leasing and rental companies," he said.?? The new initiative comes as the industry's main funder, Lloyds Banking Group, continues to slowly reduce its £1bn exposure to the rental and leasing market and the BVRLA aims to help Lloyds' customers to reduce their dependency on its funding. ??
The steering group is chaired by BVRLA honorary treasurer and board member Brian Back and includes representatives from its key sectors: Graham Hale of Fleet Hire, Andrew Cope of Zenith Provecta, Roger Hancock of Thrifty Car Rental and David Barlow of ProHire.??The BVRLA is to produce an 'Industry Profile' document for potential funders and aims to conduct a funding survey of members by the end of May.?
"We want to get a clear understanding of which sort of finance they want to provide and what sort of companies they want to deal with. The information we get from the survey of members will help us point them in the right direction," said Lewis.??In the longer term, the BVRLA is also working with the Finance and Leasing Association and exploring alternatives to bank funding.
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