Value-add ethos of Global Vehicle Group remains as broker plots course for growth

Global Vehicle Group (GVG) is targeting growth in commercials and cars, while keeping true to its customer-centric approach, after a string of acquisitions.

Fleet Alliance was bought for an undisclosed sum in June, with the Glasgow-based business joining other GVG companies – Global Vans, XLCR and LCV Group – to create a diverse offering from the business-to-business (B2B) leasing broker.

An annual combined volume of around 18,000 units is expected following the Fleet Alliance acquisition, with an aggregate fleet size of more than 70,000 vehicles and a total funded value of more than £2.5 billion.

“We believe in the broking model,” says Andrew Hurst Global Vehicle Group’s CEO. “Ultimately, we're there to add value.

“We do the job very well for the customer and, whilst there are challenges in the market, there’s still quite a lot of growth to be had.”

Hurst has a background in asset finance, starting off his career at HSBC some 30-plus years ago, including a stint with its commercial vehicle division.

He would go on to join Mercedes-Benz Finance as an area manager, before going it alone as a broker.

He would later join forces with business partner Jonathan Lewis in 2009, under the Global Vans banner, to supply and fund vans for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“We turned that into really a leading proposition,” says Hurst (pictured below). “Our USP (unique selling point) was very much about putting the deal around the customer, rather than, saying ‘this is what you can have’.”

“All the deals that we did were very much personalised to every customer,” he adds.

Strategic acquisitions follow PE stake

Having developed a successful business, it attracted backing from private equity firm H2 Equity Partners in 2022, taking a minority stake in the firm, which has its head office in Bristol with other offices in Hemel Hempstead and Cardiff.

It has helped Global Vehicle Group secure several high-profile acquisitions as it seeks to develop its offering and increase its customer base.

Each business it has acquired has brought something new to group, whether that has been increasing its B2B customer profile or developing its fleet management proposition.

“We like the brands. They've got an identity; they've got an ethos,” Andrew Hurst, GVG

Speaking in the immediate wake of the Fleet Alliance deal, Hurst explained that Fleet Alliance’s core area of expertise in the SME and larger corporate space would give GVG complete coverage of the B2B sector, while complementing its existing group businesses “perfectly”.

“Whilst each business shares the same philosophy of creating a positive and supportive team culture and a focus on outstanding customer experience, there will be significant areas where the power of the enlarged group can be leveraged in terms of best practice and providing a wider range of products and services to our customers,” he says.

Fleet Alliance was founded in 2002 by Allen and Marjory Flynn, and Martin Brown. Prior to the sale, it closed its Intelligent Car Leasing brand, which specialised in consumer leasing, to focus efforts on its core B2B channels.

The size of the customers on Fleet Alliance’s books had understandable appeal for Hurst. “They’ve got customers that run thousands of vehicles,” he tells Fleet News. “Ultimately, they’re a lease co with a broking attitude.

“They have all the facilities that the leasing companies have, but you’re getting different funders involved, so that you’re not just stuck with single lease company pricing.”

The Fleet Alliance deal came just a matter of months after The LCV Group was acquired in January, from its founder Rod Lloyd.

Based in Swansea, The LCV Group – formerly Low Cost Vans – provides leasing and flexible hire products across cars as well as vans.

The purchase also included the acquisition of TR Fleet, a specialist fleet management consultancy business.

It came a year after GVG acquired XLCR Vehicle Management - a car and van broker business that uses its proprietary technology to offer car and van deals - in December 2023.

It was founded in 2000 and has its head office in Colne, Lancashire.

Retaining individual brand identities

Today, Global Vehicle Group operates six businesses – Global Vans, XLCR Vehicle Management, The LCV Group, Intelligent Vehicle Finance, TR Fleet and Fleet Alliance.   

Hurst explains that each business will continue to operate independently with their own management teams and brand identities.

Does that risk different brands competing against each other for the same business? “No,” says Hurst. “None of our businesses in the broker world tend to be exact competitors, because they approach the market slightly differently.”

He explains: “We like the brands. They've got an identity; they've got an ethos.”

Instead, GVG is focussing on the harmonisation of systems and technology between the businesses.

“We will have best practice,” continues Hurst. “We will have common terms and conditions.

“We want to have common SLAs (service level agreements) with our suppliers and partners. “We want to have common policies with regards to compliance and we're working on putting those in place, getting that all harmonised across the business.”

Hurst explains GVG's approach is “what makes sense to put together, we put together”.  

Ultimately, it is working towards a common platform which will used across the portfolio, with work on individual modules already underway.

That includes a new pricing aggregator and a new stocking system/procurement system, with the majority of its systems being developed in-house.

“They are the key things to help scale us, help us work best with our partners, whether that’s a dealer or a funder,” says Hurst.

“We’re trying to gel it together and make our processes work with theirs really well.”