The judges:
The awards were judged by an independent panel of eight experts from the leasing industry chaired by David Brennan, chief executive of Nexus Vehicle Management.
The other judges were:
- Graham Conway, head of Partner at Alphabet
- Todd Williams, head of broker at Arval
- Chris Swallow, national sales manager of Hitachi Captal Vehicle Solutions
- Steve Cocks, director of Lex Autolease Broker Division
- Paul Hollick, managing director of The Miles Consultancy (TMC)
- Colin Tourick, Grant Thornton Professor of Automotive Management, University of Buckingham
- Fred Crawley, managing editor of Credit Strategy
- Matt Bristow, manufacturer sales director of BCA
THE achievements of some of the UK’s leading and most innovative vehicle leasing brokers have been recognised by the Leasing Broker Federation at the annual luncheon and awards ceremony.
Rebranded from the Small Fleet Leasing Federation earlier this year, the Leasing Broker Federation is an independent membership organisation that supports leasing brokers across the UK.
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More than 50 guests from across the industry, brokers and funders, gathered at Balthazar’s restaurant in London’s Covent Garden for the Federation’s awards luncheon and 2016 Leasing Broker Awards.
The event was supported by funder partners Alphabet, Arval, Hitachi and Lex Autolease, as well as partner firms Europcar and Applied Driving Techniques.
Master of ceremonies Ralph Morton, editor of Business Car Manager, paid tribute to the broker industry saying: “Leasing brokers continue to offer impressive market growth, helping fuel the popularity of PCH, driving forward commercial vehicle sales, while providing consultative services under FCA guidance.
“The performance of leasing brokers in H1 this year has been just as impressive as it was last year.”
He told how the Federation’s rebranding this year was a natural progression in an industry where “sniffy attitudes” of old had been “swept aside by the professionalism and sales success demonstrated over the last few years, underpinned by the reassurance afforded to consumers by FCA regulation”.
He said: “We are a broad church and we welcome all types of leasing broker; I want to make it clear, this Federation embraces everyone, from the smallest brokers to the largest volume operators.”
Achievements included the Leasing Broker Federation survey – “a huge success and highly regarded” research to be repeated in 2017 together with further partner services.
Chair of the judges David Brennan, chief executive of Nexus, said: “The leasing broker sector is playing an increasingly important role in the growing business car market and these awards are designed to recognise the influence of the channel on the new car and new van markets as well as celebrate innovation within these organisations.
“The performance of leasing brokers this year has been just as impressive as it was last year. The sector’s success is characterised by strong governance, genuine innovation and putting customer experience at the heart of their operations.
“The award winners deserve recognition for their outstanding efforts, but they are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to delivering excellent leasing and fleet management services.”
2016 Leasing Broker Awards – the Winners
- Ralph Morton thanked awards sponsors BMW/MINI Group and Hyundai and the independent judges, overseen by chair David Brennan.
The awards were presented by Lee Pennells, the newly appointed tactical leasing manager of award sponsors BMW/MINI, and Hyundai national contract hire & leasing manager Gareth Thomas.
Best leasing broker up to 1000 vehicle sales awards (sponsored by BMW/MINI) – Concept Vehicle Leasing
Academy and Leasewell were shortlisted in this category. The judges said that both offered great energy and sales growth, but the stand-out for the judges – describing the entry as a “Good strong business; innovative and current” – was Concept Vehicle Leasing.
Best leasing broker 1000-4000 vehicle sales (sponsored by BMW/MINI) – Neva Consultants
We had an excellent entry in this new-for-2016 category, designed to reflect the broker market more fully. The judges said of our shortlisted Gateway2Lease that the entry showed great spirit, and that National Fleet Services showed “great investment in people and impressive customer retention”.
But the winner of this category is Neva Consultants.The judges said that Neva provide dedicated support teams, a full range of product offerings covering a multitude of sectors and requirements, backed up with award winning tools.
New contracts and their fleet size portfolio continue to grow, re-affirming that Neva’s approach is working year on year.
Best leasing broker over 4000 vehicle sales (sponsored by BMW/MINI) – Fleet Alliance
Slugging it out toe-to-toe were these three shortlisted companies: Fleet Alliance, a “Top notch player, investing in CSI and tech to deliver performance,” said the judges.
Leasing Options: “A major focus on complaint management and showing excellent growth figures. And Nationwide Vehicle Contracts, the company displaying “great elements of sales focus via the web”.
But the winner of this category is… Fleet Alliance.
Best leasing broker marketing award (sponsored by BMW/MINI) – Nationwide Vehicle Contracts
Of course to reach sales targets you need good marketing. The shortlisted companies in the Best leasing broker marketing award included: Low Cost Vans, which showed innovative marketing and community investment, said the judges, and Neva Consultants which displayed good social media engagement.
But the judges gave the best marketing award to Nationwide Vehicle Contracts for its deployment of marketing strategies to drive their technical innovation to sales success.
Best leasing broker customer service award up to 4000 vehicle sales (sponsored by Hyundai) – Concept Vehicle Leasing and Neva Consultants (joint winners)
Providing excellent Customer service must be the ultimate goal for all leasing brokers. This year we have two awards; the first for those brokers with up to 4000 vehicle sales – and on the shortlist are: Leasewell who go to “great lengths to ensure the customer is satisfied,” said the judges.
“They encourage customers to view the experience on Trust Pilot & and this is reflected well on social media.”
Also on the shortlist is a winner already today, Concept Vehicle Leasing, displaying “Excellent service, driven from key strategic pillars;”And another winner today, Neva Consultants – with “Good client awareness and care”; and finally CBVC Vehicle Management who were praised for their “great consultancy services”.
So who was our winner? In the end, there was no separating our top two however we tried. So the chairman decided to give the award jointly to Concept Vehicle Leasing and Neva Consultants!
Best leasing broker customer service award over 4000 vehicle sales (sponsored by Hyundai) – Fleet Alliance
Turning to our second customer service award for over 4000 sales, we have Fleet Alliance, Leasing Options and Nationwide Vehicle Contracts – for whom all three the judges had nothing but praise: ” a credit to our industry” they said.
High praise. But there was only one winner. Step forward for their second award of the afternoon – Fleet Alliance.
The judges said: “There are genuine and specific customer services processes, which start with the staff. Plus there’s excellent NPS and good use of external benchmarking. The new business ratio speaks volumes”.
Best green leasing broker (sponsored by Hyundai) – Fleetdrive
There were just two shortlisted brokers for this award: Fleet Alliance and Fleetdrive. Now while the judges praised Fleet Alliance for its carbon dioxide reduction plan and its partnership with Skypark in supplying and paying for two electric car charging points, the judges considered Fleetdrive’s green commitment was outstanding.
Fleetdrive has made this award their own – no other broker except Fleetdrive has been named best green leasing broker since the awards began.
The judges said: “Fleetdrive understands this market and leads the way in promoting electric Vehicles”. Hard to argue with that.
Best van leasing broker (sponsored by Hyundai) – Vans Direct
In a sector that has seen phenomenal growth – double the volume of just three years ago – which are the best van providers in the business?
Our shortlist includes three brokers: Crusader Vans – “These people truly do love vans. Impressive dedication and expertise,” said the judges; Leasewell – who “showed great use of social media and good dedication to client care”; and Vans Direct – “A van leasing company covering all the products and services for its customers,with dedicated support teams and access to instant stock.”
Our final winners of today are … Vans Direct.
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