‘Morgan Stanley bought into growth plans’

New chief executive officer Tim Buchan has a tough act to follow.

For many fleets, Andrew Cope was Zenith and some are feeling a little unsure since he moved up and out to executive chairman.

“Is this the influence of Morgan Stanley?” is one comment overhead by Fleet News recently.

Buchan makes reassuring noises. “Morgan Stanley brings certainty over the next four to five years. It removes the need for us to continue to investigate strategy options.”

And of the management card shuffling?

“They have bought into a management team and our organic growth plans,” comes the reply.

Zenith is focusing on wining new business, typically in the medium to large corporate sector, and supporting existing customers at a time when many have budgetary concerns.

Most of its contracts are solus supply agreements.

Its approach is best suited to companies who require a fully or part outsourced solution, but funding does not need to be part of the service.

“We are happy to manage a car or to fund it – we don’t have to do both,” says Buchan.

Transparency will play an increasingly major role in fleet-leasing agreements. Zenith issues quarterly expenditure packs which break down its costs.

Its solus supply deals include all costings, including margin details.

“This will be more routine, even in the smallest fleets,” Buchan says. “It’s not unusual to have fixed fees now.

“We want a three-cycle relationship, typically nine to 12 years, with customers. You have to have a strong foundation to have the trust to do that.”

He adds: “Now companies have transparency of costs they don’t have to have multi-supply to benchmark and compare costs.

"They can have solus supply and be confident that they are getting the best price and service.”

Zenith recently signed an asset finance agreement with Santander which Buchan predicts could signal the beginnings of a trend.

“It looks like more banks will want to go down that route,” he says.

“But there is still uncertainty, especially as banks work out how to deliver general funding to smaller businesses.”