Asset & Auto Finance Country Survey
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ASSET FINANCE INTERNATIONAL IN ASSOCIATION WITH WHITE CLARKE GROUP United Kingdom ASSET & AUTO FINANCE COUNTRY SURVEY UK ASSET AND AUTO FINANCE SURVEY White Clarke Group White Clarke Group is the market leader in software solutions and business consultancy to the automotive and asset finance sector for retail, fleet and wholesale. White Clarke Group solutions enable end-to-end credit processing and administration to streamline business practice, cut operational cost and deliver outstanding customer service. White Clarke Group has a twenty-two year track record of leadership and innovation in finance technology, consultancy and new market entry. Clients value White Clarke Group industry knowledge, market intelligence and innovation. The company employs some 500 finance and technology professionals, with offices in the UK, USA, Canada, China, Australia, Austria and Germany. White Clarke Group publish the Global Leasing Report, which is part of The World Leasing Yearbook. To download a copy please go to: http://www.whiteclarkegroup.com/knowledge-centre/category/global_leasing_report Acknowledgements Stephen Bassett, executive director, Arkle Finance; David Betteley, director, Financial Services, Jaguar Land Rover; Miles Clarke, director, CBC Resourcing Solutions; Howard Cohen, partner, Dentons London; Bill Dost, managing director, D&D Leasing; Peter Dyson, managing director, White Clarke Group; Mike Francis, head of Asset Finance, Investec; Maria Hampton, managing director, 1pm; Julian Hobbs, sales director, Siemens Financial Services (SFS) UK; Alastair Kendrick, tax director, MHA MacIntyre Hudson Martin Nixon, head of Asset Finance, United Trust Bank; Mark Picken, managing director, Shire Leasing; Tim Porter, managing director, Lex Autolease; Mike Randall, CEO, Close Brothers Asset Finance; Julian Rose, head of Asset Finance, Finance & Leasing Association (FLA); Richard Schooling, chief executive, Alphabet (GB); Ian Wood, head of Marketing, Lombard http://www.whiteclarkegroup.com/ http://www.assetfinanceinternational.com Publisher: Edward Peck Editor: Brian Rogerson Author: Nigel Carn Asset Finance International Ltd., 39 Manor Way, London SE3 9XG UNITED KINGDOM Telephone: +44 (0) 207 617 7830 © Asset Finance International, 2014, All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphic; electronic; or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems – without the written permission from the publishers. Photo credit: Tower Bridge and London skyline © Shutterstock UK ASSET AND AUTO FINANCE SURVEY Contents Introduction 05 The UK asset finance and leasing market 07 Consumer credit 08 Fleet car finance 09 Cars bought on finance by businesses 09 Market commentary − Asset finance support grows for SMEs 10 Priorities for 2014 10 Finance for SMEs 11 Predicted lending to SMEs 11 Sources of finance 11 Specialist lenders 12 Market forecasts 13 Economic overview – what will drive growth 14 Monetary policy 14 Outlook for 2014 16 Business climate – highly rated 17 How the UK ranks on Doing Business topics 18 Competitiveness – still room for improvement 18 Leaders’ insights 21 The knock-on effect of economic recovery 21 Auto sector confidence 23 SME provision of asset finance 24 Market drivers 26 Technology is key in the auto sector 28 Market challenges 29 Challenges in the vehicle sector 30 Prospects for market growth 31 UK ASSET AND AUTO FINANCE SURVEY Greener prospects 31 SME growth 33 The effects of government incentives 33 Increasing market penetration 35 Auto and fleet penetration 36 Recruitment into the industry 37 Industry consolidation 38 Miles Clarke examines the state of health of staff recruitment within the UK asset finance sector 39 Pressure on the talent pool 39 The maturing workforce 40 Bringing back sales apprenticeship 40 Government taxation concerns likely to hit company car users 42 Consumer credit − towards a tougher regime 43 UK ASSET AND AUTO FINANCE SURVEY Introduction The UK is at last beginning to sense that it is pulling properly out of recession and that the upward trend in growth is not another temporary respite but a steady rise that indicates a real recovery. The things that should be going up (GDP, average earnings) are going up, and those that should be going down (inflation, unemployment) are doing so. Most noticeable, in terms of going up, is confidence. In 2013, the UK managed four consecutive quarters of GDP growth, and predictions for the coming year have been duly revised upward – mostly at a still modest rate of 2.4%, although as much as 3.4% in the most recent Bank of England forecast. Such figures, indicating a turnaround that is certainly not being matched by other EU economies, have helped raise confidence levels and reduced consumer uncertainty. However, most of the changes are at best gradual and are set to remain so. There is in reality little change in the prevailing sense that austerity measures are continuing to squeeze, except at the top end of society and the fact that easy access to credit is once again being promoted, and this has fuelled a relative consumer boom. The housing market has been a major beneficiary, aided by government incentives such as the Funding for Lending scheme (FLS) and Help to Buy. New car acquisition also grew, receiving an extra fillip from customers using compensation payments from banks over mis-sold payment protection insurance as down-payments. But is the recovery filtering through to business, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? For SMEs, the answer has to be: not much as yet. Much as funding is said to be available, the figures do not show that mainstream banks have been lending more. The so-called challenger banks are working hard on this front, but they still form only a small proportion of the banking sector. 5 © Asset Finance International, All rights reserved. UK ASSET AND AUTO FINANCE SURVEY The benefits of asset finance One plus point to take from the latest economic data is that the recovery seems to be becoming just a bit more balanced – in the final quarter of 2013, manufacturing actually grew at a faster rate than services, the sector on which the economy has become over-reliant in recent years for momentum. Any such rebalancing, however slight and gradual, will be good for business in general and a definite boost for SMEs. As confidence builds among SMEs, so will the need for raising finance, if for no other reason initially than firms will feel reassured about replacing equipment. And if the big banks are still keeping a tight rein on lending to smaller companies, alternative sources of funding are readily available. The figures for asset finance provision for 2013 from the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show a small but definite increase year-on-year, with new business volumes for smaller-ticket deals of up to £20m growing by 4%. When broken down by sector, the figures show a heartening rise in new business in the traditional industries of manufacturing and construction, as well as strong growth in IT equipment. There was some encouragement in the fleet sector, at least in the small business segment and signs of growth in the final quarter. In fact, indications are that the pick-up in the economy in the latter stage of 2013 will be reflected in the asset finance market into at least the first quarter of 2014. This trend has been attested to by brokers as well as funders, with broker-derived business showing strong growth rates. New business has also been on the rise for the growing number of funders offering asset finance through new means such as peer-to-peer lending and web-based innovations such as crowdfunding. Reaction to government incentives to lend to small business has been mixed. Opinions vary as to the possible impact of the reallocation of FLS funds to SMEs, but there are greater hopes that the Business Bank, once it becomes operational later in the year, will act as a stimulus to small business funding. The Business Bank should also bring the various government initiatives under a single co-ordinating institution. Another development for lenders and customers alike to be aware of in 2014 is the arrival of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as regulatory overseer and the possibility of legislative changes to follow. About this survey This Country Survey aims to provide a balanced assessment of the asset and auto finance market in the UK. The survey covers the following areas: • A summary of asset finance and leasing activity; • The current economic and business climate and forecasts for 2014; • Insights on the current state of the market, its outlook and the challenges and opportunities that face it − provided by a selection of key industry figures from a cross-section of lenders, from larger, broad- based lenders to smaller niche operators, and covering all areas of equipment and vehicle finance; • The challenges in recruiting new talent; • The latest developments in company car tax; and • The potential changes facing consumer credit lenders. 6 © Asset Finance International, All rights reserved. UK ASSET AND AUTO FINANCE SURVEY The UK asset finance and leasing market The asset finance industry in the UK is, at the latest estimate, the fifth largest globally (Source: Asset Finance International Global Asset and Auto Finance Survey 2014) and second largest in Europe, although these rankings may improve as the UK market is expanding − a rarity in Europe and may overtake Germany in top spot. The current recovery in the economy (see later section of this report) has been supported by asset finance, which witnessed overall a growing trend in new business volumes (NBV) as last year progressed. In fact, according to data from the industry association, the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), year- on-year growth of new business in December 2013 was 34%, which was the strongest monthly rate of growth for nearly six years and helped the full year total to exceed 2012 by 3%, with the annual total NBV reaching £22.4bn.