MATT NICHOLS
Head of vehicle sourcing at Anglo Scottish Asset Finance, Matt Nichols, explains that businesses and individuals can save a lot of time and energy by utilising the vast man power of Anglo Scottish when looking for vehicles.
Can you tell us about your role?
I started working at Anglo Scottish five years ago. Prior to my arrival, the business had a respected presence within vehicle sourcing but it wasn’t a main focus. Now, we have really built up the department and placed a lot of resource in to making it the force that it is today and my drive is to raise awareness of why vehicle sourcing is such a benefit for businesses and individuals.
Why might a business or individual look towards Anglo Scottish for vehicle sourcing?
Time is a valuable asset and one that is not to be wasted, after all, there’s a reason for the saying, ‘time is money’. Businesses simply don’t have the resource to spend days looking for a vehicle, or fleet, that delivers exactly what they need.
If you go to a typical dealership, the sale is all important, so they offer you what they have and not necessarily what you need. Anglo Scottish is customer-centric and first asks what a business or individual needs, looks at the finance options available within budget, the desired vehicle, including electric vehicle options and then looks to find it for them.
There is no one size fits all approach that ever gets the best result for the customer and nor should there be.
Why are traditional dealerships not always the best option?
Anglo Scottish has relationships with almost all of the major manufacturers and can offer vehicles from them all, whereas dealerships usually only offer one manufacturers vehicle.
Dealerships may also direct customer to vehicles that do not fit all of their requirements or sit outside of a comfortable budget. On the other hand, we take a very bespoke approach to customer service and believe in finding the deal that is best for the individual. This is often hard for dealerships as they tend to be tied to only one finance provider, meaning their access to finance products is more limited.
Something else to consider, is that not all dealerships can offer contract hire or salary sacrifice. At Anglo Scottish, we believe the best option is to have every consideration on the table and from there we go through a process of elimination with our customers until we reach upon the ideal option for them.
Do customers still get the same warranty as they would at a dealership?
Absolutely. All vehicles come with a manufacturing warranty and we work with a number of companies that we can directly link in with if the customer is seeking an extended warranty. I can arrange this via one of these companies and little or no time is required from the customer to secure the extended warranty. We also speak with each business and individual about any services packages that are optional.
Is leasing or contract hire better?
Again, like everything, it’s totally dependant on the individual and their circumstances. I have had individuals come to me dead set on leasing because a friend has told them about an amazing deal but when we’ve sat down and looked at all the options, contact hire is the clear winner for them.
There are so many things to consider including salary sacrifice, which Anglo Scottish can offer to any sized company, whether they have one employee or 500.
What is the Anglo Scottish ethos?
To do exceptional business and to do it right. We’re a company that offers a one-stop-shop for pretty much every finance need, be it printers, furniture for an office, prestige cars, asset finance or vehicle sourcing. As such, customers can be assured we will always find the best deal for them via our vast panel of lenders. Our customer retention rate is proof of that and the fact that a significant percentage of them use our services for multiple areas of funding, signals we are excelling at providing all round exceptional customer service.
At the end of the day, we are all people providing a service to someone else and the best businesses, in my opinion, are the ones that put the customer before any sale, no matter the size.