Have you noticed the extra-thick Motor Finance
this month? Felt the extra weight in your hands? Are your shoulders
sore just from lifting it to your desk?
There’s a good reason for that. This
month saw our last round table run in conjunction with Frontline
Solutions and we’re waving goodbye to a great series of discussions
with an extended write-up.
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There have been 10 round tables since
we began a year ago with an optimistic discussion about the place
of point of sale lending in bolstering the UK car market.
Since then, some of the highlights of
the series have included having 13 of you squeezed into a room with
me at the peak of summer to argue about the worth of GAP insurance,
September’s debate about the best use of inter-company
relationships and December’s intercontinental teleconference with
Alex Cooke of Montrose Auto Group, Ohio.
Our work with Frontline Solutions
continues, however, as MD Andy Shuter, a regular attendee of the
round tables who always attempted (and never quite managed) to be a
quiet observer to proceedings, begins his monthly column in this
issue.
We’ve called it Stress Ball because,
as those who know him can testify, Andy is not a man to skirt
around an issue or to be profligate with words when just two will
do.
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By GlobalDataAnother contributor making his debut
in our comment section is Roger Potgieter of Cobbetts with his
analysis of a recent court case concerning the disposal of a
repossessed high-value vehicle, showing just what labours can beset
an innocent lawyer lured into conversation with Richard Brown at a
motoring convention.
Continuing on from Georgie Lavers’
piece in January’s issue about gender in the industry, Joe
Pattinson and Sophie Grimshaw of BMW Financial Services have gone
head-to-head on a woman’s role in finance negotiation, an issue we
think we’ll see plenty more of in months to come.
Also following a trend of recent
issues, there are a couple of PPI stories in this month’s news
section. Claims management provider Mitchell Farrar Group is
stepping into the market and will be – remarkably, perhaps – paying
dealers to provide them with leads.
What’s that you say? Eight pages of
forthright comment, Andy Shuter’s first column, claims managers
pitching for dealer leads and a battle of the sexes – a little too
much excitement? Well in that case, lucky I found time to speak to
the famously shy and reclusive Roger Gewolb as well this month.
He’s run a lot of businesses and has
just as many ideas for new ones – not to mention plenty for how
subprime business as a whole should be conducted.
Considering what you or I could be
better off doing, we’ve had a bit of fun this month with our table
showing just what a £200,000 loan from prestige finance newcomer
Investec Asset Finance could buy. If you’ve got any suggestions,
please let us know. Or you could just buy 573 subscriptions for the
next 12 months of Motor Finance.
On a serious note, I’d like to add my
own condolences to the colleagues, friends and family of Alan
Bishop of HPI who died on 9 February aged just 57. I first met Alan
very early in my time at MF, and was always grateful for his
friendly manner and patience in explaining his work to an industry
newcomer. Those at HPI have expressed their loss to us in the most
heartfelt tenor, knowing him far more closely than I did, and I can
only say that his passing will be a loss to the work and the
community of the motor finance industry.
Fred Crawley
fred.crawley@vrlfinancialnews.com
