Drive a New Car for Less Than You’d Expect

Headquartered in Reading, Berkshire, Select Car Leasing (Select) was founded by joint CEOs Mark Tongue and James O’Malley back in 2004 – and it recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Renowned as the UK’s leading independent car and van leasing company, it boasts a total fleet of just over 80,000 vehicles currently on UK roads and close to 300 staff members nationally. In light of Select Car Leasing being recognised by Corporate Vision as Most Trusted Independent Car Leasing Company 2024 – UK, we take a closer look at what makes this the case.

With two decades of successful business under its belt, Mr Tongue and Mr O’Malley credit Select Car Leasing’s longevity to the fact that it has always put customer service and trust at the forefront of everything it does. With passion for both cars and people, Select provides its customers with a brand-new car with minimum hassle for an affordable monthly payment.

Mr Tongue explains, “Our business philosophy is simple. We take immense pride in our work, and strive to act with integrity, honesty, and dedication to exceed customer expectations. A key cornerstone of Select Car Leasing is its focus on strategies to improve the customer experience. We’ve developed industry-leading broker technology to help us effectively manage the high volume of vehicles being leased through us, while also building a seamless online customer-dealer portal. We have countless repeat customers, and we want everyone to be in a position where they want to recommend Select to their friends and family.”

Renowned as an innovative thought leader in the leasing industry, Select benefits from long-standing relationships with manufacturers and leasing companies, which allows it to offer the most competitive vehicle leasing rates to both individuals and small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This helps to solidify its position as the UK’s most trusted vehicle leasing company. Making this official is an unrivalled 4.9 out of 5 score on review website Trustpilot from more than 37,900 submissions.

Mr Tongue: “Because Select was built on referral and repeat business, the level of customer service we offer is of the highest importance to us. Any review that’s sub-standard – three stars or below – is addressed immediately and given visibility at the highest boardroom level. All of our teams are focused on long-term relationships with customers.”

Within Select’s offering is its dedicated fleet division, Select Fleet Solutions, a one-stop shop for all SME fleet managers and decision-makers, with expert service when it comes to vehicle fleet management, competitive tendering, compliance, regulation and driver safety, as well as grey fleet management, salary sacrifice, and affinity schemes.

Last year, the used vehicle and van leasing divisions of Select were revitalised, with both markets presenting enormous growth opportunities for the company.

Also, Select has a dedicated electric vehicle (EV) brand, which empowers leasing consultants with the knowledge to talk to customers about EVs, how they relate to home energy solutions, and to discuss its partnerships with leading energy providers. In 2023, more than 31% of vehicles leased via Select had a plug of some description. More than 25% represented fully-electric vehicles. Select is confident that the leasing model presents a seamless way for consumers to make the switch to greener cars and vans with zero emissions at the tailpipe.

Besides its holistic approach to vehicle leasing, another major way in which Select stands out from its competitors within the industry is with its headline-grabbing sponsorship of Reading Football Club. As lifelong Reading FC fans, Mr Tongue and Mr O’Malley were thrilled when Select was named Principal Partners of the Club in 2021, with Reading’s home stadium and official kits proudly bearing the company’s name.

Through this alliance, Select has supported grassroots football initiatives across Reading and the Thames Valley region while also backing the incredible work undertaken by the Reading FC Community Trust and Academy. In 2022, it joined forces with the Grassroots FA to provide free kits to grassroots football teams who might otherwise struggle to raise the necessary funds.

Select donates tickets to grassroots football teams, too, so that youngsters can watch Reading FC as part of a ‘Tickets for Kids’ scheme. Select has donated thousands of pounds to Reading FC Community Trust so it can provide free healthy, nutritious food to underprivileged youth who take part in school holiday camps.

This isn’t all, as the company also donated a free minibus to the Trust so it can provide Reading Alternative Provision (RAP), which supports children struggling within the school environment. The Trust takes participants to places like trampoline centres and skateparks, with a large percentage of these children coming from areas of poverty.

Select’s commitment to corporate responsibility goes further, with it supporting a number of different charities across the UK.

It financially supports and raises awareness for the Reading based Whitley Community Development Association’s (WCDA) Surplus Food Project food bank, where it has donated a van so that volunteers can pick up unwanted produce to be redistributed to those who need it each day.

Select supports the palliative and bereavement support charity Sue Ryder on a ongoing basis. A recent charity football match at the Select Car Leasing stadium raised £1,200 alone, while the company also donates three free vehicles to Sue Ryder.

In July 2024, Select sponsored a charity golf day for the New Life charity for the third year running, which helps to save the lives of countless special care babies born across the UK.

Besides that, Select has also provided a free vehicle to the local St Michael’s Hospice while organising fund-raising events for Children with Cancer.

Mr Tongue explains, “Here at Select, we take our corporate responsibility extremely seriously and we’ve always tried to support a number of different charities across the Thames Valley region and beyond at a national level. It’s what we do, and it reflects our ethos and spirit as a responsible and trustworthy company.”

At the heart of Select is its exceptional team. The company is headquartered in Reading, Berks, but has offices across the UK, all of which keep core values of quality, trust, and fairness at the centre their day-to day activities. Key to fostering this company culture are strategies to help and support staff – with the ultimate aim being to boost wellbeing while also enhancing productivity. A crucial facet of this is to adopt regular monthly face-to-face meetings as well as workshops where staff can voice any concerns as well as provide feedback on work-related matters.

Select’s approach is proactive rather than reactive, and it also upskills managers around any business and wellbeing-related issues so that any potential concerns can be identified early. Mr Tongue comments, “If you’re engaging with staff effectively, if you’re communicating with them, if you’re supporting them in their day-to-day activities, and if you’re actually listening to them, they’re going to feel more valued. And a knock-on effect of this is that they’ll be more productive in their role.”

Ultimately, it has become highly evident how Select Car Leasing has come to been bestowed with the title of Most Trusted Independent Car Leasing Company 2024 – UK. From its dedication to providing clients with only the very best products and service, to its passion towards helping those in need, to its focus on ensuring its people are well looked after, another company couldn’t be more worthy of such brilliant success. As Select Car Leasing celebrates its 20th birthday, it is showing no signs of slowing down, with the future looking very bright indeed.

If you are interested in learning more about Select Car Leasing or if you are looking to lease a vehicle, please visit the company website for more information.

For business enquiries contact Neil Goodwin at www.selectcarleasing.co.uk