The annual fleet research interviewed more than 4,500 fleet decision makers across 15 countries. It shows that for businesses with less than 10 employees, purchasing their vehicles is the most popular acquisition method by some distance with 70% employing this approach.

The potential issues with this approach are exposure to depreciation, and the unpredictable used vehicle market, as well as a significant financial outlay that could have been reinvested into the core business. The research also shows that UK businesses do this to a far greater extent than their European counterparts where 49% purchase vehicles outright.

Only 24% of UK businesses with less than 10 employees opt to lease their vehicles but those that do can see clear benefit, the biggest being the ability to manage budgets, followed by the certainty of a fixed monthly cost, reduced administration and balance sheet management.

Mike Waters, senior insight & consultancy manager at Arval in the UK, commented: ‘The advantages of vehicle leasing are as important to smaller businesses as they are to larger ones. However, smaller businesses don’t seem to have the same appetite to lease their company vehicles and realise these benefits.’

He added: ‘In many ways, small businesses can gain the greatest benefit from vehicle leasing because they are sometimes less able than larger companies to generate finance from other sources. As well as freeing up crucial capital, leasing provides an additional credit line which many aren’t taking up.’