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Meridian expands white label medium-term rental solution to broker market

Meridian Vehicle Solutions is to further target the broker market in 2020, highlighting how its medium-term rental product is an “excellent fit” for the sector.

Meridian MD Phil Jerome

Although managing director Phil Jerome said that major leasing fleets would always be the core of its business, he added that the broker sector offered a major opportunity, supported by the same business model of providing a white-label medium-term rental solution.

And conversations with the broker sector in the last year have found that this market is, if anything, more receptive to the concept of supplying cars on a 6-12 month basis, according to Meridian.

Jerome explained: “Much of this appears to be thanks to the nature of the customer relationships that exist in this market. These are more likely to be personal in nature, with the broker effectively acting as a bespoke leasing provider for the fleet. Therefore, they are able to structure medium term rental into their proposition very easily and effectively.”

He added that an important part of this was that businesses were more likely to talk to a broker about their need for a car – and therefore brokers could spot opportunities for medium term rental.

“A typical situation is when someone calls a broker to order a car for which there is a long lead time but their requirement for transport is immediate. The broker can offer a solution in the form of a medium-term rental car from stock.

“There are many other kinds of broker scenarios where medium-term rental makes sense – for example, when a new employee is taken on probation or when someone has been taken on for a fixed-term contract.

“The key is that the broker is more likely than a large leasing company to be having an in-depth conversation about their requirement for the car, so are able to suggest medium-term rental as a solution at appropriate moments.”

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Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.