IF you’re an SME with a company car fleet have you heard of Alphabet?

Maybe not.

Until relatively recently Alphabet had been primarily involved with larger corporate company car fleets.

But that’s changing.

Alphabet is a business car leasing company at a basic level – I say basic because Alphabet is transforming its service to that of a business mobility provider, much more in keeping with the future needs of customers.

Alphabet has its AlphaCity corporate car sharing service and is on the verge of launching an exciting new development with EV cars called AlphaElectric.

Alphabet has certainly grown up – both in its ambition and physically – since its takeover of the ING leasing business.

It has enlarged from 59 people up to some 330 people house in a light and airy new building, in Hook, Hampshire, which is decorated with images of active sports “in keeping with the brand values” says Paul Hollick, Alphabet’s chief commercial officer.

Since the ING integration process got underway in October 2011 the portfolio has risen to over 112,000 cars and will reach around 125,000 by the end of 2013.

And much of that is the SME sector.

“The merger brought the two companies’ portfolios together and that gives us a much broader small business arm than before,” explains Paul.

“We also run our Business Partnership Programme with the BMW dealer network, which gives SMEs access to fleet funding and support through their local dealer. We will continue to expand our presence in the SME sector in 2013 and beyond.”

Why business car leasing makes sense for SMEs

SMEs are often put off the idea of business car leasing due to reservations about end of contract charges and lack of overall flexibility.

But Paul happily bats that one away.

“Funding the vehicle rather than outright purchasing a vehicle really makes sense and I would really encourage SMEs to look for a sustainable funder that wants more than one cycle of business.

“With an Alphabet contract, you don’t have those problems at the end of contracts.