Recent research by LeasePlan found that nearly one-third of business decision makers believe that their business setup is not favourable to leasing and yet 32% are feeling overwhelmed by vehicle management administration; a weight which could be considerable reduced by choosing leasing – and one that would allow them to reclaim the time to focus on their customers.

Respondents claim to spend an average of 83 minutes on admin tasks every day, with the most common time drainers including email communication and management (50%) as well as vehicle management administration; such as handling fuel expenses and claims (32%) and taxing and insuring company vehicles (32%).

Almost all respondents (88%) admitted to feeling overwhelmed by the amount of admin they need to do on a daily basis and over half (55%) are seeking support to help with these tasks. Yet despite the reductions in time and cost that car and van leasing could offer, 43% of business decision makers still believe it is too expensive, 8% think it’s easier to own a vehicle whilst 6% believe leasing doesn’t provide the right type or quality of vehicles.

Matt Dyer, Managing Director of LeasePlan UK, commented:

“It is surprising to see that such a high percentage of decision makers believe leasing is both too expensive and too time consuming for their business. These figures suggest people have developed a misconception of the fleet industry and the concept of leasing.”

“We have a role to educate business decision makers about the benefits of leasing and help them through the process and make their working life easier – indeed the fleet industry is at an all-time high and 55% of the 4.5 million UK fleet vehicles on the road are currently operated by SMEs*.

Matt Dyer continues:

“Leasing offers a number of services to help businesses with everything from vehicle ordering, maintenance management, arranging insurance, mileage management and monitoring vehicle efficiency. It can also provide greater flexibility for businesses with regards to cash flow and budgeting. At LeasePlan, we cannot remove admin tasks completely, but we can reduce the time-draining tasks for business decision makers, which gives them more time to focus on the 10-40% business growth that so many of those surveyed are striving towards.”

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of those questioned in the LeasePlan survey are the sole decision makers within a business. Matt Dyer continues:

“LeasePlan Direct is LeasePlan UK’s direct SME and personal leasing channel to market, which handles an incredibly diverse customer base including tradesmen and sole traders, start-up businesses and established SMEs.

“The growth of the SME segment, coupled with improving products and services and our reputation as the leader in business leasing, gives us great confidence that we can be the provider of choice for UK SMEs. Whilst competitive monthly rentals and ‘deals’ are important for SMEs, it is increasingly clear that overall cost management of a fleet, and reducing the related admin of running a fleet, is where people most want our help, giving business decision makers valuable time back to work on their business and ensure they get some headspace.” Matt Dyer concludes.

Notes of the methodology:

LeasePlan conducted the research in conjunction with Atomik Research, among n=506 business decision makers in companies of 51-1000 employees in the UK.

*Source: Sewells Market Size Barometer 2015.