Departing Zenith boss says successor will 'continue driving business in right direction'
The retiring boss of Yorkshire vehicle leasing giant Zenith has said he is confident his successor “will continue driving the business in the right direction”.
Tim Buchan is retiring as CEO of the Leeds-based leasing and fleet management company and is being replaced by Richard Jones, whose previous roles have included being Managing Director at MotoNovo as well as MD for Blackhorse and Lex Autolease at Lloyds Banking Group.
Mr Buchan said the business is well-placed for its next chapter under new leadership.
He said: “As I prepare to hand over my executive responsibilities to Richard Jones, I’m proud of the way Zenith has navigated the last few years; staying true to its core values; and focusing on delivering the best outcomes for our stakeholders.
"I have great confidence in Richard and the leadership team to continue driving the business in the right direction as it enters this next phase. I’d like to say a final, and heartfelt, thank you to all our customers, business partners and employees for their ongoing support.”
His comments come as Zenith published a trading update for the nine months to December 31 last year.
It said its overall adjusted EBITDA profits were 28.4 per cent down year on year due to continued lower residual value profits. The company said when the latter measure was taken out, adjusted profits were up by 16.1 per cent.
Zenith said its total vehicles under management now stand at 170,000 while the size of its corporate-funded fleet increased by 5.7 per cent year-on-year.
Battery electric vehicles make up 46 per cent of the vehicles in its order bank for both corporate and consumer fleets.
Mr Buchan said: “While the trading environment remains challenging, our underlying business continues to strengthen with adjusted EBITDA excluding Residual Value profits, growing 16.1 per cent YOY.
"We’ve delivered a positive performance in our corporate-sponsored schemes, particularly salary sacrifice, where orders increased by 37 per cent in the last quarter year on year, as businesses look for cost effective ways to retain employees.
"In our Commercial division, we’ve continued to grow our MSU maintenance solutions, and our trailer rental business delivered a successful Christmas peak period.
“The new business pipeline, in particular for new fleet management contracts, remains strong.
“With the industry not meeting the first ZEV mandate target last year, we look forward to the outcome of the recently closed Government consultation which requested input from our sector to identify the support needed to encourage the uptake of zero-emission vehicles by consumers and businesses.
"We’re also encouraged by the recent stability in used BEV car prices that we, and the wider industry, have seen.”