Income has more than doubled during the second year of operation at medium term rental specialist Meridian, the company reports.

It now has more than 250 cars on rental at any one time and plans to increase its overall fleet to 400 units during 2018.

Phil Jerome, managing director, said: “Medium term rental is not really an established product in the fleet portfolio, so we are essentially just one of a handful of companies creating a new market, and we are very pleased with the progress being made.

“What we find is that where awareness of medium term rental exists, fleets can immediately see applications for it, whether for employees on short term contracts, to fill in for delays in ordered vehicles or more. It’s all about making more people aware.”

The Meridian business model is to act as a supplier to major leasing companies, essentially acting as a sub-contractor offering a range of semi-prestige and prestige vehicles on a 3-6 month basis. Pricing is slightly higher than a standard three or four year lease but substantially cheaper than daily rental, it says.

Jerome explained: “This is a model that works well for us and for leasing companies, allowing them to easily add medium term rental to their product range and giving us access to much larger groups of fleet customers than would otherwise be possible.

“However, we are aware that in the medium term we will need to start to build our customer base while being aware of the needs of our existing clients. Certainly, one of our tasks for 2018 is to put together a new business team of our own.”