Fleets are increasingly turning to personal contract hire (PCH) schemes to support the growing numbers of drivers taking a cash allowance.

Shaun Barritt, Grosvenor Group CEO

So says Grosvenor Group, which has reported a fast-rising number of companies choosing its personal leasing scheme, offered in partnership with Select Car Leasing. In the last 12 months, Grosvenor has doubled the size of its personal leasing team in the last 12 months and anticipates doubling it again in 2021 – solely as a result of corporate demand for PCH.

According to Shaun Barritt, CEO of the contract hire and fleet management specialist, the “seismic shift” is the result of a move among fleets to offer an important employee benefit while also making their grey fleet management far simpler and improving their carbon footprint.

The dramatic uptake in PCH by fleets is reflected in the BVRLA’s recent company car report, which shows some unprecedented trends in the vehicle fleet sector, says Barritt, and was recently reported on by Fleet World.

The report shows the true company car market has been reducing year on year since 2017 and the number of privately registered cars has been increasing at a faster rate than those owned by companies.

The BVRLA report also reveals the total number of cars used for business use is circa 12.3 million, of which 10.5 million are grey fleet and 1.8 million company cars, with 32% of drivers being offered a cash allowance instead of a company car if they wish to take it.

The report also shows that when drivers take cash in lieu of a company car, they opt for older, higher-emission vehicles, bringing a range of risk management and carbon footprint issues for fleets.

But by managing opt-out drivers through a structured PCH scheme such as the Grosvenor one, fleets can avoid such problems.

“As a result, the cash driver’s new personal lease car is likely to be low emission, and will be properly serviced, taxed and not need an MOT for three years. It is also managed by the same safe pair of hands that runs our customers’ company vehicles and becomes a private car that the company is proud for their employee to use for business,” outlined Barritt.

“There is no doubt that if you provide a driver with a superb range of truly exciting PCH offers at the moment they receive their cash allowance they are more likely to choose the personal leasing route rather than spend that money elsewhere on something old, polluting and unsuitable,” he continued.

“This has huge advantages for fleet managers, finance directors, HR directors and those responsibly for compliance and sustainability and it’s for this reason that demand for PCH is soaring.”