Vehicle Procurement Blog

We are only a small business, We don't need Fleet Management Software....

2011-10-24T12:48:00.000+01:00

Having had this response a few times recently I thought it was about time I wrote a blog on the benefits to all companies, small or large on how fleet management software can help their business.

Our fleet management software gives companies the ability to manage all the key responsibilities in one place, enabling upcoming alerts to be recorded and reminders to be sent out to the key people, fully automated.

Management of key safety information needs to be recorded, in some cases daily. This in itself can prove very time consuming, our fleet management software will store all these important documents in the correct place.

Cost management of regular maintenance & servicing history, a very easy way of controling your costs and managing vehicles individually, I often use the phrase "you can't manage what you don't measure" not my quote by the way..... but looking at individual maintenance costs can very quickly highlight some potential problems, could be driver behavier or even a vehicle fault, or in some cases internal fraud.

Also the ability to asset manage, provide a comprehensive report on financial information on existing or future requirements.

Legal / Moral compliance - Our software will ensure you have a clear and well documented vehicle policy, which will provide a Duty of Care for your employee's and reduce the danger of prosecution.

In addition to all of the above a well managed fleet will be a very efficient fleet and will natually produce financial savings, with better effects to vehicle wear & tear & employee's time management.

There is also a misconception that software needs to be expensive, well ours certainly is not in fact our prices start from £49.95+ VAT per month which includes the first 10 vehicles.

visit www.zalda.co.uk to find out more

A brief outlook at how our online fleet-management portal works

2011-10-13T10:37:00.002+01:00

Click on the picture and you can see a larger version

Reasons to speak to Zalda

2011-09-07T15:03:00.000+01:00

FOUR GOOD REASONS FOR YOU TO BE SPEAKING TO ZALDA ABOUT YOUR VEHICLE FLEET

Minimise the cost of your company vehicles.

As professional vehicle consultants , we’re passionate about helping businesses save money on the cost of company vehicles….

Minimise your administrative workload.

We have the experience and knowledge to help you measure and manage your company vehicles more efficiently and more effectively.

Minimise your risks.

We will also advise you how best to manage occupational road risk and stay on the right side of the newly introduced Corporate Manslaughter Act.

Act NOW to Maximise these benefits right away.

Contact us now on 01934 425555 to arrange for your FREE vehicle health-check, and see at a glance how much more you could be getting from professional vehicle management.

HSE - Driving at work

2011-05-23T10:16:00.000+01:00

HSE have produced a Driving at Work (work related road safety) guide, which is a free download on www.hse.gov.uk

The document covers your responsibilities, the benefits of managing work related road safety, how to manage work related road safety and risk assessments. I can highly recommend downloading the FREE document.

As a small business owner myself, I can relate with business owners getting tired of being bombarded with all of today's Health & Safety compliance, and having some recent stories told to me by business owners of how they have been effected with general Health & Safety policies I can understand why certain policies would seem extreme.

Turn the policy around..... Explore the benefits of having vehicle policy,

The cost of accidents usually amass to more costs to the business than the costs of repairs & insurance claims
Control over costs, such as wear and tear, fuel, tyres & insurance premiums
Promoting good health & safety polices is good for employee's, as happy employee's will have fewer days off , encourage good morale together with showing that you care about them.

At Zalda we continue to demonstrate the importance of having good fleet management and how your business can save money, save time and take care of all of today's Health & Safety compliance.

If you would like to know more, or know anyone else that would enjoy the benefit's of our service, we are offering a FREE vehicle healthcheck, where you will get a few money saving tips for FREE.

Email : enquiries@zalda.co.uk

2010-12-06T12:14:00.000Z

What is a PCP ?????

2010-09-23T09:07:00.000+01:00

Personal Contract Purchase often referred to as PCP, so what is a PCP. This finance product was designed for private individuals and is classed as a conditional sale agreement that offers you protection under the consumer credit act 1974 and the financial services regulations (FSA).

Similar to contract hire, PCP can avoid the depreciation trap, but the difference is at the end of the agreement you have the option to purchase the vehicle at the agreed final payment or simply hand the vehicle back to the finance company.

Benefits of Personal Contract Purchase

Fixed Monthly Payments
Flexible Deposit - Help you manage your monthly budget
No Disposal Risk - Guaranteed Future Value (GFV)
Service & Maintenance can be included - extra charge

At Zalda we often find ourselves recommending PCP to private individuals who work for companies where there is a company car opt out scheme in place. Another favorite is for the petrol heads who enjoy expensive vehicles, as the finance company will set a residual value based on length of the agreement & annual mileage and by fixing the final payment this will reduce the monthly payments.

Buying an older car may seem like a safer option - after all, it will be cheaper to buy. However, one large service & maintenance bill could completely wipe out any savings on buying a second hand vehicle. If you buy a vehicle with a PCP, you will be buying a new vehicle over typically 3 years where servicing & maintenance costs are very low and any major faults will be picked under the manufacturers warranty.

At Zalda Ltd, we still maintain that you need expert advice, and by letting us find out a little about you & your business we will tailor the right funding package to suit you.

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog and hope you are finding the information useful.

Best Regards
Carlo de Gregorio

Vehicle Finance Explained

2010-09-15T10:49:00.000+01:00

In the next series of blogs, I will be explaining the different types of finance products available when considering your next vehicle purchase.

Contract Hire

Contract Hire, sometimes referred to as leasing or operational lease is a good solution for businesses looking to fund their vehicles by simply making a fixed monthly payment throughout the term of the contract (typically 2 or 3 years), and at the end of the contract, we would return the vehicle back to the finance company and take out a new agreement. We can also have a inclusion of an optional service & maintenance package to take care of all future servicing and repairs to include tyres.

Benefits of Contract Hire

Fixed Monthly Payments - Budget your cashflow
Deposit usally 3 payments upfront - free up your own funds
Off Balance Sheet - Its a depreciating asset
No disposal Risk - return to the finance company at the end of the agreement
Re Claim the VAT - 50% on cars & 100% on commercial vehicles
Tax Efficient - (you will need individual advice on this subject)

Disadvantages

The contract is based on annual mileage - excess mileage charges if you exceed the agreed mileage
Contract Cancellation incurs penalty fees - Vary from lender to lender
The vehicle needs to be returned within the fair wear & tear guide - (you will need advice on the subject)

John Paul Getty the famous oil barron has a famous quote,

" If its a appreciating asset buy it & if its a depreciating asset lease it"

Accountants & business advisors all agree that conserving cash is essential to protect businesses from fluctuations in business, bad debts, unforseen costs etc...

At Zalda Ltd, we still maintain that leasing does not suit every business or individual and that's why we offer our procurement plan, by letting us find out a little about you & your business we will tailor the right funding package !!!

Best regards

Carlo de Gregorio

Why have a "Procurement Strategy"

2010-09-07T09:38:00.002+01:00

I thought I would start of my procurement blog, with a case study of one of my larger fleets I manage.

Whilst presenting to a potential customer the benefits of using a service from Zalda, the decision maker I was dealing with kept referring to how cheap he had been quoted for the replacement of the vans that were coming to the end of their contract by his local main dealer. Staying composed & professional I kept on track with my presentation but I will confess to struggling to get his attention as he had already been sold a deal on a monthly price, but had not fully committed at this stage.

As part of our fact find I did ask if I could see the quotation that our client had received as the monthly payment was very competitive. The quotations our client had received was based on a finance package that was completely incorrect for the business together with unacceptable final payment (which is an old finance trick to get the monthly payments lower) with a vehicle make & model that would not have been fit for purpose and caused the client problems during the 4 year contract he was about to be sold.

Once I had highlighted several areas that I felt the client could of been exposed too, the client asked us to prepare a procurement strategy based on our fact find during our meeting.

Our presentation was completely different on what our client had already received from his local main dealer, we had proposed another vehicle manufacturer that would of suited the business due to the amount of mileage these vans were doing together with an alternative finance package that was a very tax efficient way to fund the vehicles, saving the company money. However these changes did have a downside and that was the monthly cost has gone up by £80 per month, the upside was that the client had a better quality vehicle that would of been fit for purpose together with saving the client £16k at the end of the 4 years contract that we guessed would of been the shortfall of getting the final payment set at a wrong amount just to reduce the monthly cost, together with maximising any tax allowances the customer was entitled too.

Needless to say we won this customers business and have recently renewed and added 2 more vehicles to his fleet.

This is just one example why you should deal with a vehicle procurement consultant.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

Carlo de Gregorio

An Introduction to our new Vehicle Procurement Blog

2010-09-02T11:48:00.000+01:00

I will be starting a series of useful blogs which will be very easy reading with regards to vehicle procurement methods, together with keeping our followers upto date with the following subjects, Benefits in Kind, Capital Allowances, Leasing over Buying, Low emitting CO2 vehicles, Funding Options & Duty of Care updates.

Our industry constantly changes because of new regulations, goverment budgets, new vehicles being introduced, and by writing this blog we hope to keep you upto date and familiar with these changes.

Please visit our website http://www.zalda.co.uk/ and use the useful tools of Car Tax Calculator & Co2 Calculator and check out the latest special leasing & purchasing offers.