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Thirty years of Network brokers: what it means to you

THE Network franchisee system for business car leasing brokers is now 30 years old. Is this important? Business Car Manager editor, Ralph Morton, files this special report on what the customer benefits are for small businesses.
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SME owners: benefit from Network broker standards

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9 February 2015

Small business owners benefit from high standard of customer care from Network car leasing brokers
SME owners: benefit from Network broker standards

THE Network franchisee system for business car leasing brokers is now 30 years old. Is this important? Business Car Manager editor, Ralph Morton, files this special report on what the customer benefits are for small businesses.

 

YOU’VE probably arranged your business car through a Network broker in the past.

Or, perhaps, ordered a number of company cars for your expanding business. As a tradesmen, you might have ordered the odd van, too.

And, I suspect, if it was through a Network broker, the service would have been top notch.

Well, that’s partly to do with the level of back-up such car leasing brokers receive from Network, a specialist division of the leasing company LeasePlan, that is entirely set up to fund car leasing brokers.

To be accurate, Network operates a franchise system to which car leasing brokers sign up.

To become a Network franchisee you have to subscribe to a Code of Conduct established by the BVRLA regulating body. This is important to you.

Partners of Business Car Manager – such as Central Contracts and Concept Vehicle Leasing – are BVRLA approved car leasing fleet providers, for example.

BVRLA-approved car leasing brokers must adhere to a set of standards; have a bricks and mortar office; and with a BVRLA approved broker you get a guaranteed professionalism you won’t find elsewhere.

What Network brings to the party

To this blend, Network adds training and marketing support, alongside a wide range of ancillary products and services designed to ensure Network car leasing brokers offer the best service to small businesses such as yours.

Jo Elms, the former brand director at Network and now commercial director of parent company LeasePlan UK, told me: “It’s really some achievement to reach 30 years. During that time we’ve seen many changes to the market since our launch in 1980: from single to multiple funding product solutions; legislative developments such as duty of care; green fleet management and the introduction of internet-based trading platforms. So there have been many changes.

“But throughout these 30 years, we’ve always had a high regard for the role that the car leasing broker provides, particularly in the SME market, and that’s why we’ll continue to develop the Network franchise over the next 30 years.”

Mike Lloyd on the benefits of using a Network franchisee

Mike Lloyd may well be familiar to you through the Editor’s Blog on this website and as one of our panel of experts on Ask the Experts. Mike is the managing director of Central Contracts, and also chairman of the BVRLA car leasing committee. So he’s influential in car leasing broker circles. He’s also a Network member.

So I asked him what this Network franchise is all about. “I’ve been a member of the Network franchise since 2003 and recently became a Platinum Network franchisee – members of elite Network brokers that mean we get access to various offers and speedier processing which are not available to standard Network franchisees,” Mike explains.

“I would say that of all the funders, Network is the most broker-centric of the leasing companies,” Mike continues, “because it only exists to support our market place, and gives us a strong offering for our customers – which are small businesses.

“Network is rigorous about standards, too. There is two days’ training a year for all of our staff; we’re audited to ensure we meet the standards expected of a Network franchise; and to become a member of the Network franchise you first have to be BVRLA-approved, in itself a measure of professionalism and customer service in the first place. All of which is good news for SME customers – they get better service and better deals,” concludes Mike.

So if you’re looking for a new company car for your sales staff, or perhaps a new business car for yourself, then take a look at a BVRLA-approved car leasing broker. But in particular, a Network franchisee broker.

There’s 30 years of experience behind them – and a commitment to becoming the funder of choice for all SME traders and companies requiring new business cars and vans.

Further information

If you would like to know more about car leasing brokers and what service they can provide to your SME business, then read the Special Report What is a car leasing broker?

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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