Leasedrive Velo Blog

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

With all the recent hullabaloo about Government guaranteed lending schemes, our CFO David Bird and I in a quiet moment one evening spent some time finding out exactly what we could extract from Government in these tough economic times.

It was purely an academic exercise as we whiled a few hours one evening. However, the results were far from amusing for anyone seriously intent on gaining backing. We drew an absolute blank!

It should be noted at the outset that participation in any of the schemes we applied for is restricted to viable businesses only such as our own.

Under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) our turnover exceeded the £25 million upper limit for that scheme.

Equally, we drew a negative response when applying for a Capital for Enterprise (CFE) loan. This time our business turnover exceeded the £11.2m upper limit for the scheme. Additionally, the money we had put in for exceeded the upper limit for the CFE fund! Apparently, the money ear-marked for the fund is to help businesses improve cash flow. Shame that there does not seem to be any money available to do so!

Our application for an Enterprise Capital Fund (ECF) drew a similar response to the CFE application. I hope with all these acronyms flying about you’re with me so far? The only difference here was that in addition to exceeding the £11.2 million upper limit and applying for too much money, our business apparently does not operate in a sector that the ECF supports. So any readers of this blog can immediately eliminate the ECF from their enquiries!

Lastly, our application for Regional Support elicited the same response as the last two.

Basically, this is just another example of Government spin and hot air. Hey guys, look how good we are, we know you need money so we’ve created this wonderful guaranteed lending scheme to help you on your way. Just apply here, it’s as simple as one, two, three. You want some money? How much? Why? Just wait a minute while we process your application. You are not eligible! You cannot participate! Now shove off! Next!

While we’re happy we have secure funding lines in place I pity the poor buggers, whether in our industry or not, who have their expectations raised by yet another Government red herring. It’s a pity heads cannot roll, literally!

And why can’t they just concentrate on getting it right? It does not take a financial expert to understand why most banks are still very cautious to new lending. When the Government’s re-capitalisation of a few £billion is carrying a coupon of 12% on the preference shares, it is not hard to understand why the banks concerned are less than enthusiastic to lend that money against a base rate measurement of 1.5%…. you do the maths!

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

Black is the new black according to DuPont, who have revealed that it’s Europe’s most popular car colour, supporting the industry view that black had overtaken silver as the number one car colour.

Black is also the colour of the number one most powerful man in the world, Barack Obama. Did we see that ever happening? Dr. Martin Luther’s famous “I have a dream” seemed just that, a dream. It shows how fast things change in politics.

Eight years ago, Barack Obama was persuaded to attend the Democratic Convention on the West Coast after not having come close to winning a Congressional seat. At a low ebb, his friends thought it would do him good. I doubt the half hour wait to get his credit limit raised at the Hertz counter in order to rent a car will have done his confidence much good either, or the fact he could not gain access to the convention hall.

However, he dared hope and, low and behold, was selected to make the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. One of two senators representing Illinois, his star was suddenly in the ascendency. Dreams from My Father, originally written in 1995 and The Audacity of Hope, published in 2006, became international best-sellers and he devoted the next two years to his Presidential campaign.

On Tuesday, he took the oath of office and engaged the world with his honest appraisal of what’s wrong with America and what needs to be done about it. He didn’t hold back the punches. It would involve hard work, short-term sacrifice, new responsibility and a different approach. He admitted government, as it stood, did not work. America was entering a new era and would need to re-engage with the world.

Much of the current economic downturn can be traced back to the greed of the financial community, and in particular the sub-prime market.

To quote one passage from his inaugural speech: “That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.”

As I said, he didn’t pull any punches.

The Audacity of Hope in many ways embodies what we all feel at the moment. We dare hope that, after eight years of the worst US administration in living memory, the USA will start acting responsibly and lead by example. The failure of the Bush administration to sign up to tackling climate change was the single most disgraceful and damaging action it took. Obama has promised to do a 180-degree ‘U’ turn.

If Barack Obama remains true to his beliefs, then we do dare hope and the world may become a better place in which to live, wherever in the globe.

In many ways, the fact that Obama is the first black President may be secondary to what he promises to achieve in the challenging years ahead. Respect, humility and responsibility for others, as well as for one’s own actions are just some of his values. Obama is indeed the new black.

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

Intelligent Speed Adaptation – now there are a few words to conjure up all types of horror scenarios! Sudden spurts at T-junctions, sudden loss of power when overtaking, commuters shaving or filing their fingernails as they cruise along at a steady 70mph in the fast lane… You get the picture – lots of drivers going about their business but being controlled from on high.

I don’t have a problem with vehicles set to do a maximum of 100mph, and am all for the roll-out of more variable speed limits to keep traffic flowing, but I do have a problem with Government governing speeds from on high when they cannot even demonstrate any capacity to govern the nation as a whole.

My views on technological control of speeds are consistent with my views on road charging. It simply will not work because this Government has singularly demonstrated, when it comes to the introduction of IT systems in whatever shape or form, a total and abject failure. Not only does it fail to meet its targets but it squanders shed-loads of money in the process.

At a time when financial prudence should be the order of the day, the very thoughts of the Government embarking on any such scheme any time in the short or medium-term future leaves me positively raging at the crass stupidity of this Government, which seems hell bent on driving the wheels off the UK wagon and seeing it drop off over the edge of a high financial cliff.

The only intelligent speed adaptation that needs to take place in the short to medium-term is judicious use of the right foot – not only to control speed but to eke out every drop of fuel to maximum effect.

As with the economy, we need to get back to basics. Liberal doses of practical intelligence are called for not more crass acronyms! Is ISA the new ISA I wonder?

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

Happy New Year! I hope like the FTSE100, it proves to be a better start than you originally expected. We all know it’s going to be a tough ride but that’s no reason not to tackle the challenges of 2009 with vigour and make a real difference over the coming year.

Unfortunately, the year has not started well for some. I think of the poor innocent children in Gaza for a start. Or, nearer to home, the good Samaritans caught up in my local Junction 10 M4 slip road tragic accident.

As l write this, details are still unclear as to exactly what happened. Albeit, the consequences were tragic with one man killed and another in hospital with serious head injuries. The sketchy details to have emerged so far indicate the driver who died had clipped the barriers after skidding on ice. Another stopped to help and both were caught up in a following driver’s accident. The passengers of the latter vehicle were then struck by another car in what appears to have been an unfortunate domino effect. A woman, the passenger in the third of the four cars involved, was taken to hospital with head injuries but later released.

The accident has prompted a debate as to whether you should stop to assist the victims of an accident. Well, surely the answer has to be yes, but exercise extreme caution. The common advice is to ensure that you do not endanger yourself or the lives of those involved. If you are in a position of potential danger then exercise extreme vigilance.

Apparently, in France, it is now a legal requirement to carry a yellow reflective vest in the car to cover such contingencies, which seems to me to make eminent sense. That and the immediate display of a warning triangle ahead of the incident, be it an accident or straightforward breakdown.

Talking of breakdowns, I learned that more than 100 recovery drivers are killed each year on our roads while assisting another motorist. That is a horrific number and just goes to show that all drivers should exercise extreme caution when passing a broken-down vehicle. In the old days, we used to move over to the middle lane on motorways if a vehicle was stopped on the hard shoulder in order to give maximum room.

If you have not yet made a New Year resolution then this should be it. Don’t forsake your fellow drivers if they have a problem but exercise due caution in going to their assistance and if you are passing by someone who is already being attended to then slow down and give them enough room. And, with my London to Paris bike ride hat on from last year, give cyclists a suitably wide birth too.

Here’s to a safer year on the roads in 2009.