There are a myriad of funding options for fleets to consider, but whichever direction a business takes to fund their fleet it should be reviewed on an annual basis.

“Any review of vehicle acquisition needs to start with what a particular business wants to achieve with its vehicles,” explains Richard Bunn, brand director at FleetLine.

“This could be reduction of cost, improvement of driver provision, tax efficiencies, increased duty of care provision, reduced environmental impact, outsourced administration or a combination of any of these.”

Fiona Hall, commercial director at Arval, believes that companies need to first understand what may be right for a particular company may not be right for them.

“One size certainly doesn’t fit all, different funding methods suit different companies at different times,” says Hall.

A major consideration is whether it’s a company’s intention to have the vehicles on or off balance sheet.

“Many employers do not want to have the residual risk on cars and in view of this would wish to not own the cars but to lease them,” explains Alastair Kendrick, director, employment tax services, Mazars LLP.

“This is always the big question,” adds Robert Wastell, director of Comparecontracthire.com. “Do you contract hire or do you buy a vehicle? Every business is different however there are some fundamental questions they need to consider.

“With contract hire they are renting the vehicle for the period and can be protected from the risks of ownership. When buying, or using hire purchase, they will eventually own the vehicle.

“Taking tax out of the equation their decision should really be based on what is the total life cost of a vehicle?”

At a glance: key considerations for fleet acquisition