Van rental: offer flexible alternative to buying
SMEs can benefit from usership rather than ownership says Northgate
SOLE traders struggling with replacement costs and MOT issues with their old vans – along with small businesses that need replacement new vans – should consider van rental, suggests Northgate, the van rental business.
The company believes that too many businesses spend time and money repairing and maintaining older vehicles that will increasingly cost more to run.
In addition, lack of capital to buy new vans is also a factor as banks continue to make lending to SMEs difficult or highly expensive.
Northgate says that flexible hire, such as its Norflex product, provides financial savings for SMEs without any long term commitment, and there’s no bank lending to contend with.
Northgate Vehicle Hire sales and marketing director Gareth Jones said: “With such restrictive lending criteria being a common problem for many SMEs, traditional methods for acquiring and running vehicles are proving cumbersome and require a level of capital commitment that no longer makes sense for many organisations.”
Mr Jones said that Norflex was contract-free and fully flexible. “It enables SMEs to operate vans for any period of time without a commitment to lengthy contracts. Vehicles can be returned at any time without charge if business demand drops or if business activity increases then additional vehicles can be immediately added,” he said.
Mr Jones continued: “Rental has historically been viewed as a stop-gap transport solution. But that perception is changing and, as we are discovering, more companies are realising that it is vehicle usership and not ownership that is key.”
