Bristol-headquartered vehicle leasing specialist ALD Automotive has reported record growth for the first quarter of 2013, delivering nearly 9,000 new vehicles to customers in and achieving its busiest ever March with more than 4,500 new deliveries.
ALD Automotive, originally known as Bryan Contract Hire, was established in 1958 and is the UK operational leasing and fleet management division of the French bank Société Générale. Today, the business manages the needs of many major corporates in the South West as well as across the country, and employs more than 320 people having taken on more than 100 new employees since 2009.
Despite the recent economic turndown the company is set to have doubled in size in less than five years, funding almost £1bn worth of assets in the UK.
Managing director Mel Dawson said: “This solid growth builds on our impressive results last year and underlines the value of our multi-channel sales strategy. It’s fantastic news, not only for the business but the Bristol economy in general, in what remains a challenging climate.”
Growth has come from several new corporate deals, such as Midas and NCP and from existing key accounts including National Grid and Smith & Nephew.
ALD has also become the largest white-label provider in the market, managing vehicle leasing schemes for six major car manufacturers. The business is forecasting another record year in 2013 and expects the size its fleet to grow to 95,000 vehicles by the end of the year and exceed 100,000 vehicles in the UK next year.
ALD was established 55 years ago as part of the Bristol dealership group, Bryan Brothers. The company successfully completed a management buy-out in 1995, floated on the London Stock Market in 1997, and was bought by Société Générale in 2001.
Recent growth has established ALD among the top-four players in the UK vehicle leasing market with the business offering a wide range of vehicle funding options for PLCs, SMEs and individual consumers.
