David Whelan due to take over
as head of back-office operations at ECS UK, reports Fred
Crawley.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Technology lessor ECS UK has taken up
provision of maintenance and other services to customers, in a move
that brings its strategy further in line with the business of its
European parent.
ECS Group, which turns over nearly €2bn
annually across its 17 countries of operation, employs around 600
of its 1,600 staff to provide maintenance and other services for
lessees.
Out of its 12,000 business clients, nearly a
third are on maintenance-inclusive contracts, making service
provision a big part of the business. Until recently though, this
has not been a major factor for ECS UK.
According to sales director Chris Labrey,
however, ECS UK has become less like a group subsidiary and more in
tune with group-wide business as time has gone by.
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By GlobalData“We most definitely view ourselves as one
entity,” Labrey said.
ECS UK already shares enterprise resource
planning and customer relationship management systems with the
group, meaning data can be shared internationally, and makes use of
centralised marketing and finance resources in Paris.
In addition, said Labrey, it is common for ECS
staff to move across the continent to take up roles in different
parts of the group.
Nevertheless, the differences in accounting
treatment between the UK and Europe, as well as the relative
maturity of the UK leasing market, have led to some idiosyncrasies
in the British business.
Historically, according to sales director Chris
Labrey, the product development pressure caused by a more mature
and competitive market led to UK staff being considered as group
innovation experts, says Labrey, with many models developed in the
UK being used across the European business.
Now, however, things have moved the other way –
ECS UK has recently taken on the service provision element of the
European business, meaning that it now offers maintenance,
deployment, and project management services alongside leasing.
According to Labrey, 2009’s greatest challenge
for the UK business was getting transactions funded, rather than
finding new business.
Nevertheless, hard times have had some benefits
– the tendency for customers to extend leases rather than purchase
new equipment allowed ECS to surpass margin targets, he added,
while there has been a drastic improvement in financial information
provided by customers, making risk decisions more well
informed.
A subsidiary of Société Générale (SG), ECS
resides in the bank’s Department of Specialist Financial Services,
along with general equipment lessor SG Equipment Finance and motor
financier ALD Automotive.
Internationally, the group is led by chairman
Yves Caparros, managing director Veronique di Bénedetto and
director for international sales Laurent Briziou.
The group started life in Paris, 1974, as an
independent business. Initially working with a staff of five, it
was bought out by SG in 1984, sparking a period of prolific
expansion.
This involved the founding of ECS UK in 1985,
with a team of six that grew over the next 25 years to reach the
current headcount of nearly 50.
ECS UK’s sales activity is run by director
Chris Labrey (see boxout), while back office operations are headed
up by leasing director Debbie Watton, who is about to leave the
business after 18 years. She is due to be succeeded by current risk
manager David Whelan.
Profile of Chris Labrey, UK
sales director at ECS UK
