Group invests £20m in truck rental move

The business, which includes the ATE Truck & Trailer Sales operation, will be offering flexible medium to long-term rental packages for the first time.

Asset Alliance says it has made an initial investment of £20 million in rental assets, securing a mixed fleet of more than 250 DAF and Mercedes-Benz tractor units and rigid trucks, together with 100 new sliding bogie skeletal trailers, double-deck temperature-controlled trailers and curtainsiders, from Dennison and Montracon.

Asset Alliance Group was founded in 2010 by Willie Paterson, former director of commercial finance at Alliance & Leicester and is based on Wolverhampton's Boundary Indusrial Estate. The Flexi-Hire division is an expansion of Asset Alliance's existing commercial vehicle contract hire, leasing, financing and sales arms.

David Potter, commercial development director at Asset Alliance, said: "Flexi-Hire is designed specifically to provide flexible, medium- to long-term commercial vehicle rental on a rolling contract, making it ideal for customers that need vehicles in a hurry, to meet the changing needs of their business.

"What's more, with many customers now taking on contractual work for shorter periods, it's only logical that we offer a rental proposition to suit. Flexi-Hire means our customers can operate high-spec commercial vehicles certified to the latest safety standards, without committing to a longer, fixed-term contract hire package or waiting months for them to be built."

Asset Alliance says the new division is a 'comfortable fit' within the group, as vehicles acquired on Flexi-Hire can complement assets supplied through the group's contract hire and financing arm or Total Reefer – its specialist in temperature-controlled vehicle contract hire, rental and leasing.

Assets purchased from ATE Truck & Trailer Sales – the group's retailer of new and used commercial vehicles – could also be accompanied by assets supplied through Flexi-Hire.

In April 2016 the group secured a £75m revolving asset based lending deal led by Royal Bank of Scotland and supported by HSBC.

The agreement strengthened the group's approach to purchasing, refinancing and procuring vehicles for its clients, by using its own funds and buying power to supply multi-brand assets on any combination of contract hire, operating lease, finance lease, hire purchase – and now medium- to long-term rental packages.

Asset Alliance Group says it is using the funds to drive significant growth in its business, and for future acquisitions.

It's ATE Truck and Trailer Sales has just sold 11 pre-owned trucks to a customer in Myanmar – the former Burma – opening a lucrative export market as yet untapped by the Wolverhampton-based firm.

The 11 commercial vehicles – a mix of Scania R420 and R480 6x2 tractor units – marks ATE's first export deal to the Southeast Asian nation.

The trucks will take 40 days to arrive at the port of Yangon, after setting sail from Felixstowe – a distance by sea of nearly 10,250 miles.

James Jenkins, sales director at ATE, said: "The customer required that the trucks be ready to work the second they rolled off the ramp at Yangon – a capability we were happy to provide."