Select Car Leasing Preston is celebrating more than 30 years in the industry - withstanding a financial crash and a global pandemic while staying true to its commitment to looking after people at a local level.

The Lancashire office - an Appointed Represented of Select Car Leasing - is led by Principals Steven Clarke and Tony Cameron.

Having been in business since 1994, the vehicle leasing specialist – headquartered at the Nelson Court Business Centre - is now in its third decade of operation and currently employs 10 sales executives.

Steven and Tony first met in the mid-1980s when they were both working for Midland Bank in Manchester before going their own separate ways.

Steven then enjoyed what he calls a ‘baptism of fire’ working as an Account Manager for GE Capital in Manchester, Merseyside, Chester and North Wales, teaching Business managers within car dealerships how to optimise their finance and insurance sales.

He laughs: “It toughened me up, made me savvy and, looking back, was the best thing that could have happened to me.”

Tony, meanwhile, set up his own commercial finance operation in Preston.

Everything changed in 1993 when Steven visited the British Franchise Exhibition and was tipped-off about Network Vehicles, which specialised in Business Contract Hire, Lease Purchase, and Personal Contract Purchase on all makes and models of cars. Crucially, Network Vehicles was franchising the operation.

Steven called Tony who coincidentally had also heard of the Network franchise and a business plan was formed. Shortly after, in 1994, Cameron Clarke Leasing was born.

Steven, a music enthusiast who has played in many 80’s bands, explains: “Tony and I put everything we had into it. I got a loan for £7,500, let my company car go - a Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 no less - and we just found a way to make it work. There was no email, no mobile phone, no internet, no social media, no Google - we had the Yellow Pages and the pub, and that’s where you made your contacts and got your business.”

Fast forward to 2019 and Steven and Tony met Mark Tongue and James O’Malley, Co-Founders and Joint CEOs of Select Car Leasing, at an Arval conference on the HMS Belfast on the Thames in London.

A year later, Cameron Clarke became the first Appointed Representative of Select Car Leasing, taking advantage of the market specialist’s national buying power and sophisticated online systems. And then the world was plunged into Covid-19 lockdown.

Select Preston's Steven Clarke and Tony Cameron

For Steven and Tony, it became a case of ‘all hands to the pump’, as he says: “We put our staff on furlough, and we just worked really hard to make it through.”

Select Car Leasing Preston survived and thrived.

Steven adds: “The best part of the job? Working with the incredible team we’ve created. I love recruiting, training and working closely with the team as we look forward to future growth. As for Tony, we’ve known each other 39 years and we’ve always had each other’s backs. We are different people with our own personalities but we’ve always had the same aims and ambitions. You learn to compromise or else it doesn’t work. We’ve always had an unwritten rule that if one of us feels strongly against a particular plan of action, we don’t do it. It’s as simple as that.”

And why should customers choose Select Car Leasing Preston?

Steven reveals: “With Select Car Leasing, we’re part of the UK’s biggest and most trusted leasing company and we enjoy all of the heavyweight buying power that comes with it. You always get the best price, that’s a given.

“Yet we’re also here as friendly faces who look after people. We don’t just operate online, either, so if you’re a business looking for a mobility solution, we’ll come out and see you face to face. There is nothing we cannot do, whether it's new or nearly new cars and vans, total Fleet Management, Salary Sacrifice, Business Contract Hire and even cash for car schemes, right through to Personal Contract Hire for an individual vehicle ”