CVS is a relatively new kid on the leasing block,
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but it is buoyed by its sales director having worked for manufacturers, both directly and at dealer level.
Nords / Images: Tom Cunningham CVS sates director Richard Gosling (right) is in a typically buoyant mood when we catch up with him at Renault's flagship Coventry dealership. "Just because 1 [latterly) worked for Renault doesn't mean we have a French-only purchasing policy!" he quips as we take the stairs towards the first-floor boardroom. Gosling previously worked at Mercedes-Benz dealership Enza from 2002 until 2006 (as sales director), before moving to Renault Trucks from the end of 2006 until 2008, occupying the mantle of sales manager for the north of England. He kicks off by telling us that despite the recession, the leasing and contract hire business has experienced a degree of sustained buoyancy: CVS has recently placed an order for 100 Premiums to add to its existing fleet of 30 Renaults. With a staff of 20 based in Ikeston. Derbyshire, CVS is a £10m turnover business with interests in contract hire and leasing, in addition to asset disposal. The company is a subsidiary of Close Asset Finance, which is part of Close Brothers (UK's oldest independent merchant bank), it was established back in 2002, by Martin Collins.The directors report directly to Close Asset Finance, The bank bought into the business back in 2008, at exactly the same time Gosling joined the company.
CVS doesn't just rely upon leasing and contract hire volume for revenue generation, however, as the Derbyshire operation also takes care of its own vehicle disposals as well as those of Close Asset's.
No-one has taken more knocks in the past 24 mo than banks. although CVS sees the partnership witl' Brothers as a perfect marriage. "Contrary to possibl perception. we've managed to grow the business wii support of the bank. Having strong financial underpinning has undoubtedly been a great asset. V finance through our own b so we write our own maintenance contracts and forecast our own residual values," says Gosling.
Flexibility is key
"We can manage our fleet flexibly as we need — or as customer dictates," Goslirq enthuses, "The bank is very that any business written n to be commercially viable. been a hard thing to achie% over the past 24 months, especially when you're up against some contract hire companies who have been renting tractors for a paltry weekly amount. We calculate the absolute minimunfinance costs to be more than what some contract hi companies are charging. and that's before you factot maintenance, tyres. miscellaneous costs, and of cours all-important profit."
But the leasing man's lot has not necessarily been totally unhappy one. Gosling points to contract uncertainty as one of many factors playing into the I
of a business able to offer short-term deals: "We can build in things like contract break clauses: generally offering a far more flexible approach to the operator. For example. we could put half the fleet on contract. half on spot hire." As if to prove the point perfectly. Gosling claims CVS has done deals with a number of manufacturer-owned dealerships for the supply of demonsirators."Of course they all have their own internal financial divisions, hut the lack of flexibility meant our package was far more advantageous." he adds.
The best of both worlds
Having sat on both sides of the fence. Gosling has first-hand experience of how different the world can be with a degree of flexibility: "I would say that as a business. the main difference [against that of a manufacturer's sales operation} is we're not restricted by what we can or can't do," he reasons, offering a slightly critical approach to a manufacturer's directive of only following the party line. In some ways, Gosling sees his job as much harder than the one of looking across the vehicle rows from the dealership's window: "The ethos around CVS is not the truck, it's the service, The key requirement is to keep in touch with the customer — not sell and forget. as is common practice with some sales dealerships."
As an ex-dealer and exmanufacturer employee, he has a better than most approach to purchasing meetings."I would say that from the outset,
A two-year high for demand
CVS reports a strong appetite for tractors across the hoard, and even goes as far as claiming a two-year high for demand. "We're currently experiencing very strong utilisation," Gosling reports. The company lists operators such as Norbert Dentressangle and Kuehnc Nagel among its client base. although Gosling says he's as happy doing business with an own-account operator with one truck. "Our ideal customer might be the person who made this." he says tapping his fingers on the Renault boardroom table. "The sort of own-account operator who would reap the benefits of a fully managed, compliant, fixed-cost vehicle contract with full fleet management," he adds.
The mood in the room changes as Gosling delivers a somewhat critical, and definitely surprising, conclusion to our interview.
"The contract hire and leasing sector currently has zero in the way of accountability regarding its own maintenance quality. As a company, we feel this is fundamentally wrong. if an own-account operator leases a vehicle and doesn't maintain it him or herself, then the contract hire company should be brought to book if something does go wrong. We would wholeheartedly support changes in legislation to make the contract hire company either partially, or in certain cases, totally liable." Gosling concludes. •
there's sometimes a tendency to flannel. Some salesmen deploy spin tactics to make the customer think they're fighting for a better deal.We probably don't get vehicles any cheaper than the next man, but I'd like to think I can cut through a lot of the unnecessary chatter.! can work backwards and roughly tell you how and why we've been quoted a specific figure." he claims.