Subscribe to our email newsletter »
SME Company Car Advice
New managing director for Lex Autolease
THE biggest supplier of business car leasing services in the UK – Lex Autolease – has a new managing director. Tim Porter has been appointed managing director and takes over from Rick Francis at the end of June. The appointment of Porter is likely to be good news for Lex Autolease’s involvement in the… Read more…
Do you look after your drivers’ road safety enough?
RUNNING a small business is demanding. We know that here at Business Car Manager towers. There’s always plenty to do: planning, operations, client meetings, cars to test, stories to write, managing the business… The list goes on. And I suspect that’s the same for most small businesses and SME firms. But if you manage… Read more…
New drink-driving rules introduced
THE government is toughening up its stance on drink-driving offenders. New rules will be introduced from 01 June aimed at persistent offenders. These new drink-drive rules will require those most dangerous offenders to prove they have no alcohol dependency issues before they are allowed to drive again. In addition, drivers who refuse police blood-test… Read more…
Think-tank wants unfair leasing penalty removed
THE influential think-tank, the IPPR, wants the government to change its policy on the removal of 100% First-Year Allowances (FYA) for leased cars. Since the Budget, an SME buying a low-emission vehicle (CO2 emissions below 95g/km) can claim 100% first year allowances. However, leasing companies supplying low-emission company cars to small businesses and SME… Read more…
Beware those end-of-lease liabilities
AT Business Car Manager we run our business cars just like you – so what happens to us is relevant to any SME with a small fleet. So here’s a tip. Publishing director Nick Ratcliffe has just had a narrow scrape with his SEAT Exeo ST. Editor Ralph Morton, sharper than he looks, noticed that… Read more…
Driver assessment and training needn’t break the bank
YOU hear a lot about your ‘Duty of Care’ in this series of articles. Health and Safety legislation requires that employers show a Duty of Care towards their employed ‘at work’ drivers. That means that every employed driver needs to be assessed for ‘occupational road risk’. How do you achieve this? Many managers of small… Read more…
Prestige residual values: what’s hot and what’s not?
What’s hot?By the look of rising roadster and soft-top values, summer must be just around the corner, whatever it feels like outside. Guide values went up in April and look like they’ll keep rising for May. If trends follow the last few years they’ll dip again by July (probably as buyers realize that the sun… Read more…
Compliance with the law on driving at work – a five point plan
IF your SME employs more than five people, and if any of them ever drives on company business, then you’re responsible for making sure that they drive safely. It’s broadly referred to as ‘Compliance’ and it means you have to be able to demonstrate that you meet your responsibilities under Occupational Road Risk, Health and… Read more…
Save frozen fingers – tick the heated front windscreen option box
IF you’ve ever looked out of the window on a frosty morning and had that sinking feeling – ‘I must mentally allow five minutes for clearing the car windows of frost’ – then the benefits of a heated front windscreen are all too obvious. This morning wasn’t one of those, though. The Volvo V40… Read more…
Make the most of your tax allowances before April
IF you’re thinking of changing your car, now’s the time to do it. And take advantage of more generous tax allowances before the April tax changes. The savings can be impressive. If you run your own business, and buy a car that has CO2 emissions below 110g/km you can claim 100% first year allowances –as… Read more…
BMW cans the 520d EfficientDynamics in range revamp
Big roll-out as BMW electric i cars charge into the market
Ford goes the extra mile with new Ford BlueService
Hybrids must clean up their act on mpg claims