Hosking says the company is launching 3-4 schemes per month.

He expects to end 2010 with between 40 and 50 companies signed up, and more than 2,000 cars in the market.

“Within a year we will have 70-80 schemes and 300,000-400,000 eligible employees,” Hosking says.

He claims that take-up is better than expected.

“When we launched, our business plan was 1-2% take-up in year one, 1% in year two and 1% in year three, so up to 4% over three years,” he says.

“But our live schemes are showing an average take-up of 3-5% in year one, 2-3% in year two and we now expect 2-3% in year three, equating to 8-12% over the three-year period.”

Based on this level of take-up, Tusker could have 20,000-plus cars
on its salary sacrifice scheme by this time next year.

Benefits-based salary sacrifice schemes are usually managed by Tusker rather than a company’s fleet manager, according to Hosking.

“It tends to be dealt with by HR or compensation and reward departments,” he says.

And because salary sacrifice often sits within an established company scheme, Tusker has partnered many of the top 20 employee benefits providers to facilitate negotiations and the development process which can take many months.

While Hosking stresses the full range of Tusker’s products and services as a contract hire and fleet management company, including its risk assessment product FleetProtect which is “increasing in popularity”, it is clear that SS4C is proving to be a sizeable fillip.

“It is an opportunity to grow our contract hire business because we often get asked to look at the company car fleet once we start providing salary sacrifice,” says Hosking.

“Of our 28 SS4C customers, only one was an existing leasing customer.”

Tusker’s traditional marketplace is fleets with 25-300 cars.

But many of its salary sacrifice schemes have been signed with much bigger employers “where we wouldn’t have been considered previously”, says Hosking.

The company now has four fleet customers with more than 500 vehicles; last year it had none.

Contracts are restricted to businesses with at least 1,000 staff because of the set-up costs and the relatively low annual take-up, although enquiries have come from companies with as few as 30 employees.

Tusker’s risk fleet size has remained consistent over the past couple of years at a little over 6,100 cars and vans.

But Hosking now has major ambitions to expand on the back of SS4C, which he believes could add several thousand units a year.

Over next five years he wants to build the company to 20,000-25,000 risk fleet size.

That would take it from 30th place to inside the FN50 top 20.

Hosking adds: “We are a contract hire company that is involved in salary sacrifice where we are at the forefront.

"And as long as the Government of this country wants to drive down CO2, salary sacrifice will be around.”