NEWS
Motoring - Advanced Vehicle Leasing ’ s Clarke Beagrie , left , and Stuart Beagrie .
WE ’ VE GOT THE POWER
AVL unveils electric car ‘ salary sacrifice ’ scheme
“ The priority is always the customer – that ’ s not just rhetoric , it ’ s our ethos .”
So says Stuart Beagrie , founder and MD of Middlesbrough-based Advanced Vehicle Leasing ( AVL ) – a firm that , since 1997 , has been dedicated to getting the best vehicle leasing deals for private customers and businesses alike .
And with its new salary sacrifice scheme on electric cars , it ’ s plugging into the so-far untapped potential of the vehicles of the future .
For 27 years , family-run AVL has built an enviable reputation for hasslefree business and personal leasing arrangements on all types of cars and vans .
With Stuart and son Clarke in the driving seat , AVL – centrally based on Middlesbrough ’ s Riverside Park since 2015 – has 25 full-time staff who go the extra mile to ensure the hundreds of vehicles leased each month are the perfect fit for the customer .
Stuart said : “ Whether it ’ s one car or 100 , everyone gets the same attention because that ’ s the core of our business . It sounds old-fashioned but it ’ s a basic thing – look after your customers .
“ We had a strapline ‘ nice people to do business with ’ but we have to be . We don ’ t make anything in here , so we need to look after people .”
And with their latest initiative , they ’ re not just helping the customer – they ’ re helping the planet too .
AVL has launched a salary sacrifice scheme where businesses lease electric vehicles and the employee pays for theirs by ‘ sacrificing ’ a proportion of their wage .
And , says Clarke , it could prove a gamechanger .
He explained : “ The employee sacrifices an element of their wages towards the cost of having the vehicle each month . It comes out of their gross monthly wage , but they are saving the National Insurance and the element of PAYE tax on that . The employer is also saving their National Insurance contribution .
“ In effect , the employee gets a fully serviced and maintained , all-electric car for a much smaller percentage of what they would be paying by doing it all themselves . “ It must be an electric vehicle , though , because the ‘ benefit in kind ’ tax on electric cars is next to nothing in relation to diesel and petrol – that ’ s the big win .”
Stuart adds : “ It ’ s a win for everybody – the employee , the employer , the environment , us – and there genuinely isn ’ t a catch .
“ From an employer ’ s point of view , they ’ re going down the right route regarding carbon emissions and for an employee , we feel it ’ s the right thing to do and will be cheaper for them to run because it ’ s cheaper to charge your car up than fill it with petrol or diesel .”
Launched in mid-January , Clarke said the salary sacrifice scheme has several advantages for the businesses using it .
He explained : “ One big win for the employer is that it will help staff retention – you ’ re giving your staff access to something they wouldn ’ t get access to elsewhere and it could save them hundreds of pounds a month . And a lot of companies have green targets , which of course this can help meet .”
Each customer will use a secure portal on the AVL website to access the scheme . Clarke said : “ Businesses will create a ‘ log in ’ and can then offer the staff they wish to access it . Then we will work with them , to find the correct vehicles and manage all the paperwork for them .
“ One reservation people have had was regarding staff members leaving - they don ’ t want to feel lumbered with the car . Most companies in the marketplace want three to six months ’ minimum notice but we ’ ve structured it so that any time after the first year , regardless of circumstances , if a member of staff leaves , we will take the car off their hands at a month ’ s notice .”
And whether it ’ s leasing electric , petrol or diesel vehicles , Stuart says customer service will remain at the heart of the AVL operation .
He said : “ We literally do everything – from the credit , to getting the right cars , the right colour , the right models , then getting them delivered on a trailer . It ’ s all part of what we do .”
Visit avluk . co . uk
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