The Badger Holdings group has offices across London, Surrey, Middlesex and Hampshire, offering a variety of property services including residential sales and lettings, conveyancing, land and new homes, surveying and financial services, and runs a high-profile fleet of liveried BMWs

Lombard is delivering 93 cars between now and July, with up to 40 further replacements to come. The cars, all BMW 1 and 3-Series diesels, will be run over three years on fully maintained contract hire but with a pooled mileage facility.

'We have a high-quality image to maintain and having a fleet of BMWs, some of which are M Sport convertibles, is central to that,' said Badger fleet manager Mark Lawrence.

'In addition, the latest BMWs are so efficient that their emissions levels have been transformed from those of the outgoing fleet, even though those cars are just three years old. That not only helps the business’ tax and running costs but also reduces our employees’ personal tax liability. Over the past eight or nine months the Lombard team has been exceptionally helpful, allowing us to make the change seamlessly.'

The deal forms the latest in a line-up of SME fleet deals and follows Lombard's recent announcement that it has been appointed by national lawn treatment business GreenThumb to fund and manage a fleet of around 800 vans.

'Our relationship with Badger Holdings demonstrates how the economic conditions of the past couple of years have had some positive effects,' said Nigel Kerr, Lombard’s head of contract hire – business & commercial. 'Customers are realising that well-structured leasing and management solutions can not only keep their businesses moving but actually save money. As a result, some are seeking more strategic and better-structured funding and management solutions and are happy to commit to long-term contracts despite the prevailing economic conditions and uncertain outlook.'