All articles by Claire Hack
Claire Hack
Fitness First renews contract hire agreement
Gym and fitness chain Fitness First has taken delivery of six Citron LCVs as part of its fleet replacement and expansion programme. The company has ordered one Dispatch dual fuel van, one Berlingo dual fuel van and four Berlingo 1.6HDi 90hp X vans.
VR Leasing to work with EIB on SME discount
German lessor VR Leasing is to offer its SME customers a discount through parent bank DZ Bank, in collaboration with the European Investment Bank (EIB). Customers with 250 employees or fewer will be offered a 25-basis point reduction on lease agreements worth between 125,000 and 12.5 million, lasting between 48 and 60 months, on items such as machinery and medical equipment.
Aldermore to expand leasing business with new hires
UK lender Aldermore is to create 45 new jobs in Reading as it moves into its specialist asset finance centre in Apex Plaza, opening in the next few weeks. The bank, which has been in operation for about a year, has signed an agreement to rent an 8,000 square foot office space and its entire leasing team will be relocated there. George Ashworth, Head of Asset Finance at Aldermore, said: We will then recruit up to 45 additional staff, with 20 new recruits being required immediately
Leaseurope releases anti-fraud report
Leaseurope has announced the release of a special e-publication entitled Fighting Fraud. The report gives an insight into industry initiatives and best practices used by lessors in Europe. Leaseurope put together a selection of interviews with national leasing associations and a number of articles by practitioners for the report.
Lombard supplies finance to packaging company
A Burnley-based food packaging company has secured £1.25 million (1.52 million) of financing from Lombard for a new printing press. Learoyd Packaging sought asset finance from the RBS subsidiary to fund a new Windmoller & Holscher press, the third new press it has invested in over the last five years.
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Possible opportunities in high-speed projects
Air travel chaos caused by Icelandic volcano sees passengers increasingly turning to rail. A number of new high-speed rail projects across Europe are heading towards completion, but not much stock is to be financed through leasing.
Green light for growth
In the world of IT finance, marked volume increases, international growth programmes, acquisitions and competitive pricing have become the standard in recent months as lessors identify a wholesale shift in the way businesses acquire technology assets With economic hardship continuing to affect markets across Europe, the IT finance sector is enjoying markedly high volumes as customers turn away from outright purchase, say major captives like Dell, Cisco and HP.
Impact of public pool leasing played down
In the past in Europe, it would have been a simple matter of the larger lessors offering operating leases, but many have either pulled back from the market or pulled out altogether, leaving it open for other funders, or indeed, for local authorities to purchase rolling stock themselves in order to lease it to operators known as public pool leasing. However, Martin Metz, head of land transport finance at DVB Bank, said: There is a risk that if the market is taken up with public authorities, most or all of the private initiatives like private lessors and banks will simply pull out.
Aldermore expects profit
New UK bank Aldermore, the first in Britain to be backed by private equity, is expected to make a profit this year. It is reportedly looking at a modest gain thanks to its commercial mortgages, asset finance and invoice finance arms, which performed better than expected.
Future of large infra-rail projects under threat
Further uncertainty in the UK rail market exists as the future of a number of major projects remains clouded, including the Intercity Express Programme (IEP), which was to replace the current fleet of Intercity 125s and 225s, as well as Crossrail and Thameslink all of which potentially mean big business for lessors operating in the UK.