History

Lex Service acquired British and Colonial Motors, the UK importer for Chevrolet and Pontiac. Inside this company was a small business called Vehicle Contracts which had innovated a new method for customers to acquire cars, known as Contract Hire.

Lex acquired Controlled Cost Motoring, headquartered in Sale, near Manchester.

Changed name, becoming Lex Vehicle Leasing.

With a fleet of around 3,000 vehicles, Lex set up a joint venture with Lombard North Central, part of the National Westminster Bank. The venture meant Lombard provided the funds to grow the business and Lex provided the management expertise.

This partnership proved extremely successful so in 1983 Lex Vehicle Leasing set up Lombard Contract Hire to sell contract hire through dealers to small businesses.

Leasing bought Fleetdrive, a public sector contract hire company running around 3,000 vehicles. This was the last acquisition it made and since then - unlike other major contract hire companies - has grown entirely organically.

Lex Vehicle Leasing hit the magic 50,000-vehicle figure.

The first free of charge Accident Management Service in the UK was launched. Lex recognised as the "Best Contract Hire Company in the UK" at the inaugural Fleet News Awards.

Lex win "Best Contract Hire Company in the UK" award again.

Lex OneCall, an innovative service for company car drivers is launched - another first for Lex.

Fleet grows to over 75,000 vehicles. This grew again in the summer of 1996 by winning a solus five year contract to supply 3,000 vehicles on contract to the Royal Air Force. This was the biggest single contract Lex Vehicle Leasing had ever won to date, and there was more to come.

The company won the highly coveted title of Best Contract Hire Company for the third time, which is awarded by the leading industry journal Fleet News. Other awards included those for Service Excellence and Best Service Provider from Wilmington Press.

A new joint venture for Lex Vehicle Leasing was formed in December 1998 when Halifax plc and RAC plc signed a 50/50 agreement. This assured the company of long term funding and new opportunities for product development and growth.

Lex Vehicle Leasing was awarded the environment certificate ISO14001, an international standard which recognises its commitment to resource management. Through the development of its environment programme, the company has won additional accolades. These include three awards from Abbey Publishing, the UK's leading authority on clean fleet management.

The company won the highly coveted title of Best Contract Hire Company.

Lombard Contract Hire changed its name to Lex Vehicle Partners. LVP has developed partnerships with distributors around the UK to meet the needs of small businesses.

With over 90,000 vehicles Lex Vehicle Leasing is highly optimistic about its future. In 1999 and 2000 it invested over £12mn in its IT systems which now allows it to aspire to world class status. New products like Personal Contract Purchase continue to grow and address the needs of private motorists.

The management of the Ministry of Defence White Fleet contract was awarded to Lex, with nearly 10,000 non-combat vehicles being assigned to the company's care. In addition to normal contract hire service, the company provides a full management reporting service to the MoD.

The need for Lex to find representation in a larger global market was resolved in October 2000 when the company was invited to join the world's largest fleet alliance, Global Fleet Services. Over 1 million vehicles make up this international partnership.

In the year the Lex Report on Company Motoring highlighted the paucity of knowledge surrounding tax changes and the company car, Lex Vehicle Leasing launched the definitive calculator on its website. The company won the highly coveted title of Best Contract Hire Company and best Overall Service Provider to the fleet sector.

Commitment by the company to customer service resulted in the decision to invest in the Six Sigma methodology of continual process improvement. Lex Service plc changed its name to RAC plc. The first edition of the Rough Guide to Company Cars was published and the Young Motoring Writer of the Year award was launched in conjunction with The Daily Telegraph. Lex Vehicle Leasing was named 'Best LCV Contract Hire Company' by What Van magazine for its dedicated service to van fleets.

An important and very successful year for Lex Vehicle Leasing. It began by winning a number of important industry awards for Lex FreeChoice and Service Provider of the Year. In February the company recorded a pre-tax profit of £38.2m, a 12 per cent increase on the previous year. This success was directly related to the investment in Lex's IT systems, the continuing financial rewards of Six Sigma and the roll out of The Academy, a comprehensive training programme for Lex employees.

Lex has continued its business growth in 2004, building its fleet to 130,000 vehicles. It has signed up high profile fleets like Yell and the Forestry Commission and has been at the forefront of pioneering fleet issues such as congestion charging, the future of residual values over the next three years and providing detailed advice on the petrol v diesel argument. At the heart of its growth has been further developments in its Six Sigma programme which focuses on achieving the highest levels of customer service, the launch of its new consultancy based fleet management service Lex Momentum and a commitment to educating and helping its customers manage the latest Duty of Care safety legislation. Its training programme the Lex Academy continues to train and develop colleagues within the business, helping achieve consistently high levels of customer service and business growth.

Lex started the year by winning Best Leasing Company Award from Fleet Management magazine then Best for Customer Satisfaction Award from apd Landmark. Its personal contract purchase product, Lex FreeChoice was voted Personal Contract Purchase Scheme of the Year by the Institute of Transport Management. However the most important event of the year was the signing of the HSBC Vehicle Finance contract through which the company's fleet increased to 170,000 vehicles, thus becoming the largest leasing company in the United Kingdom.

January saw Lex winning the prestigious Business Car Leasing Company of the Year Award - the seventh time in eight years and Director Jon Walden was awarded the Fleet News Leasing Personality of the Year. In May 2006 full ownership of Lex Vehicle Leasing passed to HBOS from Aviva, paving the way for a partnership with Bank of Scotland Vehicle Finance. To herald the changes and to celebrate its full membership of the Corporate Division the company refreshed its brand logo and became known as Lex, dropping the Vehicle Leasing tag.

Once again Lex wins Best Leasing Company and Best Fleet Management Awards from BusinessCar magazine. The company integrates with Bank of Scotland Vehicle Finance - the leasing arm of HBOS - and adds the all important colour purple to its new logo. The fleet increased in size to over 250,000 vehicles, demonstrating the success of previous and continued investment in its IT systems. New heights were reached in Lex's commitment to service by rewarding garages which provided customers with the best service while the application of Six Sigma methodology continued to work behind the scenes to support and encourage increased levels of World Class service to all areas.