Business Leasing
Day's Fleet News

Newsletter – March 2022

Welcome to the March edition of our newsletter, included in this month’s update:

Taking your Lease Vehicle Abroad

With the Easter holidays fast approaching and travel restrictions easing across the UK and much of Europe there is expected to be a surge of travellers heading abroad.

Many people will be making their first overseas trip for over two years and may be unaware that some regulations having changed in that period. In a post-Brexit environment, having the right documents is more important than ever – it is essential that all drivers taking a rented or leased vehicle abroad from the UK hold a valid VE103 certificate, demonstrating that the driver has permission to have the vehicle, in lieu of them holding the vehicle log book (V5C).

You can apply for your VE103 Certificate here – please try and do so at least 2 weeks prior to your travel date.

More information on taking your lease vehicle abroad is available here.

Days Personal Choice

Days Personal Choice is a growing division of the Days Fleet offering personal leasing solutions to grey fleet drivers and also the employees, friends and family of our clients. Due to strong relationships with several funders, we are well placed to be able to compete in the competitive market of personal leasing whilst bringing our extensive experience in the fleet and leasing industry to the table. From a small city car to luxury SUV’s and EV’s, any mobility option that our clients require are available with a growing team who are geared to carry on the strong reputation for great service that we have always been known for.

In the coming weeks, we will be formally launching our Employee Car Scheme. This will enable our clients employees to benefit from our corporate relationship and have access to preferential rates for their own personal vehicles. A dedicated, password protected website will be made available to each of our clients with our team working closely with clients to ensure that their employees are able to make the most of the scheme. We will be in touch with our clients soon to introduce this!

Take a look at the Days Personal Choice website for further information,

Client Dashboard

Did you know that our Client Dashboard is available to you free of charge regardless of how many vehicles you have with us? If you’re not already using it and would benefit from having all of your Days Fleet vehicle and contract data in one easy to use place, then please contact us.

In a few clicks you can check your vehicle orders, download invoices, check MOT dates and run your own reports – it’s simple, secure and included in your contract with us.

Popular Car Colours

According to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Grey is the UK’s most popular new car colour for fourth consecutive year, followed by black and white.    25% of cars sold in 2021 were grey, 20% were black and 17% white.

COLOUR NO. REGISTRATIONS % MARKET SHARE % VOLUME CHANGE ON 2020
1. Grey 408,155 24.8% +2.8%
2. Black 337,351 20.5% +3.9%
3. White 282,529 17.2% -0.3%
4. Blue 279,891 17.0% +1.4%
5. Red 145,273 8.8% -1.3%
6. Silver 111,549 6.8% -8.7%
7. Green 17,927 1.1% +24.0%
8. Orange 16,642 1.0% -19.2%
9. Yellow 8,952 0.5% +31.3%
10. Bronze 4,500 0.3% +12.4%

Days Fleet’s figures for 2021 were very similar with 26% of our car new car fleet being grey, 23% white and 19% black.

EV Test Drive – Audi Q4 E-Tron

To increase the awareness and understanding of electric vehicles in general we have recently been encouraging our staff to drive them over the course of a few days so that they get to experience the day-to-day reality of life with a vehicle that needs charging!

David Casserley, Business Development Manager, based in Leicestershire test drove the Audi Q4 E-Tron.

  • What did you think of the vehicle?

Anyone jumping out of a current ICE Audi would have no problem getting up to speed with the instruments and controls fairly quickly. As everyone who’s driven one has previously remarked, they’re quiet and comfortable and the absence of an engine just seems to make you more aware of tyre and wind noise. It wasn’t insanely fast in way that a Tesla is, but it was very much on par with what you’d expect an equivalent 2.0 Petrol or Diesel to be, and you can never really get away from the weight of those batteries. It’s a very practical car with loads of space and I can see it doing all the jobs a family would need it to do.

In terms of fit and finish, it was fine but probably not what would normally be expected of something costing this much(£49k) with an Audi badge. The pre-heat feature was a very welcome bonus on cold morning though allowing the car and battery to be heated up to an efficient operating temperature when you came to depart.

  • How many miles did you do?

Approximately 250 over the space of a week.

  • Did you try to charge the vehicle?

I did. I charged it at an Instavolt charger at a local McDonalds which was convenient in that it doesn’t require an app and you can pay with a credit/debit card. It cost around £12 and took around 40 mins to put around 105 miles into the battery. It was very easy to use and both chargers were free when I arrived., however, this is quite an expensive way to do it.

  • Could you charge at home?  If not, why?

Yes, I can and even though I don’t have a home charger, the 3-pin plug adapter worked fine with the garage socket and topped the battery back up overnight.

  • Would you have an electric vehicle instead of your current petrol/diesel?

I was expecting to find far more fault with the experience than I did ( being a change-resistant middle-aged man, apparently). The car felt very mature and well executed and with a model of sufficient range, I could see an electric car as an option in the not-too-distant future, particularly if the tax system continues to favour it. I’d probably have a home charger fitted for speed of charging though.

Driver Data

Having a driver name against a vehicle order or a vehicle contract used to be a ‘nice to have’ and was historically used as a simple point of reference for both us and our client.  However in 2022 we require driver data for very different reasons and it is becoming more and more essential as vehicle technology continues to evolve.

We kindly ask that where a vehicle order is placed for a specific driver that their name, mobile number and e-mail address is provided to us.    This data will be passed where appropriate to the vehicle manufacturer/dealer so that EV accounts can be set up, over the air software updates facilitated and for pre and post vehicle information and handover e-mails to be sent.   This will ensure that he driver of the vehicle will not miss out on essential vehicle or contact information.

All of the driver information provided to us is processed in line with our Privacy Policy and GDPR and is solely used for the purpose of contract management.     If we are missing any driver data for your vehicles our team will be in touch shortly.    If you have any queries on this please contact us.

Meet the Team – Alistair Murray, General Manager

Joined Days Fleet in July 2007.

1. What is your role within Days Fleet?

My role is a Business Manager responsible for Days Personal Choice, providing personal leasing options to individuals as well as other types of finance outside of the core business. I look after relationships with several funders, creating and promoting special offers, building and maintaining the websites, marketing amongst many others!

2. What do you enjoy most about your role within Days Personal Choice?

Every day is different, each with its own unique set of challenges! Also, working within such a great team is a huge bonus.

3. What has been the most challenging part of working during the pandemic?

The pandemic brought many challenges as Days Personal Choice was still in its infancy when the world was brought to a halt. Navigating these times while embracing a new way of working has made me think differently in terms of how we operate, so some good has come out this period too.

4. What would you like to achieve in 2022?

This year will see the formal launch of our Employee Car Scheme which has been in development for some time. I am excited to unveil this to our client base in the coming weeks! Personally, I am looking for a new charitable challenge to push myself out of my comfort zone and raise funds for our charity of the year – Cerebral Palsy Cymru.

5. What are you most looking forward to now that restrictions are easing?

I am a musician, I’m really looking forward to playing shows to packed audiences again, we have really missed engaging with people through music while the restrictions have been in place. Keeping my fingers crossed for a warm summer which is something that we could all do with!

St David’s Day Team Call

As a proud Welsh company we held a virtual coffee morning to celebrate St David’s Day (plus Shrove Tuesday and new vehicle registration day!)   We even managed to get our English colleagues involved!

Days like this are incredibly important as it’s a great opportunity for all of our staff to see each other and interact.  Due to our hybrid working model and office rotas not all staff now attend the office at the same so it great to see everyone on the same screen.

We also held an auction during the call and raised over £100 for our charity of the year – Cerebral Palsy Cymru – which is a great start to our charity fundraising in 2022.

New Employees

We’re delighted to have recently expanded our team with 3 new employees and wish them all the best in their new roles.

Ria Thomas – Client Support Administrator

Ria has joined us from our parent company and will be responsible for all client contracts and reporting amongst many other things!

Dominic Lewis – Flexi Hire Co-Ordinator

Dominic  has joined our growing Flexi Hire team and will be on hand to assist with new vehicle bookings

Elliot Adderley – Apprentice Accounts Clerk

Elliot has joined us on an apprenticeship scheme and will attend college one day a week to obtain his AAT qualification.

Customer Survey

We recently sent out a link to our Customer Survey and we’d like to thank all clients that took the time to complete.    If you are yet to complete yours, we’d really appreciate 5 minutes of your time so that your feedback can be used for staff development and training and continuous improvement.   You can still take part in the survey by clicking here.

For every completed survey submitted, we will make a £5 donation to our nominated charity for 2022 – Cerebral Palsy Cymru.

Job Vacancies

We currently have the following vacancy available:

Client Support Executive – for details and application, please click here

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