“You have to be in it for the long haul.”

Hardy said the market in Northern Ireland is significantly different to that in Great Britain, with a more local approach key to closing sales.

He has found businesses in Northern Ireland are incredibly loyal and tend to invest in companies that are prepared to put something back into the community.

“It is a close-knit community that needs a softer approach,” said Hardy.

“The English are probably less concerned about buying from their own than the Irish are.”

Fleet sizes also differ greatly from the mainland, with a 20-vehicle fleet seen as a significant piece of business.

Hardy admitted that it’s taken time to adjust to the market and work out an approach to win new business.

“It’s taken us more than two years to understand our market,” he said.

“We’ve worked with brokers over here for longer than that too, so we have had to adjust our thinking and accept that we will need a lot more customers to get what we want from here.

“This is another reason why the Northern Ireland market scares many other mainland leasing companies.”

Gordon Stephen, Ogilvie Fleet managing director, said delivering excellent customer service, flexibility to suit the needs of its customers and being competitive on price will set his company apart from its rivals.