Me test driving the new Fiat 500 TwinAir at
our Concordia Street bay, Leeds

We are keen to keep driving down the carbon emissions of our fleet, that’s why over the last couple of weeks we’ve been replacing some of our older cars with the brand new and extremely economical Fiat 500 TwinAir’s. Not only do these cars boast the lowest emission petrol engine in the world, they are excellent to drive, look fantastic and have some great gadgets too! So much so I couldn’t resist taking one for a spin myself when visiting our head office in Leeds last week! I have to say that I was very impressed with the Bluetooth hands free system and particularly the fact I could use it to play the music I have stored on my iPhone. Another gadget to note is the stop/start technology; this is designed to reduce emissions. When you come to a stop, put the gearbox in neutral and take your foot off the clutch, the engine stops. Don’t panic as it will start up again as soon as you engage the clutch – it’s a clever piece of technology.  I think the glass roof deserves a mention too; it’s perfect for letting in those summer rays, or more than likely to tell whether or not you need to get your brolly out!

We’ve already had lots of positive feedback from members which is great to see. I’ve been reading through the latest Tweets on our Twitter page, and it seems lots of you are having good fun getting out and about in them (and showing off to your friends).

You’ll be pleased to know that by the end of September there will be 100 of these great little cars available for you to book up and down the country. If you’d like one nearer to you, do let us know by emailing home@citycarclub.co.uk and we will see what we can do.

In the meantime I hope you continue to enjoy driving these new City Cars, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for many more new cars to come over the next few months.

The team here has been working long and hard over the past few months to secure contracts which will enable us to expand our services. I am now delighted to share with you the major successes we have had over recent weeks.

Earlier this month we were named as Birmingham’s official car club partner. Our small existing presence in the city, which currently only consists of off-street locations, will very shortly see us expand into the Jewellery Quarter with many more locations to follow – including lots of on-street bays. We’re very excited about our plans for the Birmingham club, and hope to see it become one of our largest operations in the coming years.

This announcement was then followed (subject to contract) by success in the London Borough of Wandsworth, where we will be providing roughly 50 vehicles from what we hope will be August. We’ve also renewed our agreement with Bristol City Council which will also lead to many more cars being placed across the city.

All this is in addition to more new locations planned for most other cities throughout the year. It’s been a lot of work but we can’t wait to get cracking in these new areas!

It’s hard to believe but it’s almost been a year since we introduced City Vans to the fleet. I was looking over the usage figures the other day and it’s fantastic to see that so many of you are making use of them. In fact, they’ve become so popular you’ll soon be seeing lots more up and down the country– watch this space for further details.

I had my own City Van experience this weekend, and after months of nagging I (finally) got round to taking an old double mattress to the dump. As there was so much space, I also emptied out the ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ in my loft and packed it full!  I booked the Cornwall Road van by Waterloo station in London to do the dirty work and it was such a doddle (yes, I know I’m biased). But seriously, you simply book the van for the amount of time you need it, rather than having to pay for a full day which is the case with traditional van rental. If you’re worried that you’ll be denied access to waste disposal sites/recycling centres because you’re in a van, don’t be. As long as you have ID to prove that you’re a local resident, you should be fine. Still, it’s best to check prior to your visit just to be sure.

Have you used a City Van yet? I’d love to know what you think, same goes for if you’d like a City Van near you – let me know.

If you have any photos of you out and about in a City Van, do email them to marketing@citycarclub.co.uk so we can add them to our Facebook rogues gallery.

I’m extremely pleased to report that it appears some banks ARE lending to SME’s! You need to have plenty of time up your sleeve though as it’s a very lengthy process!

After providing lots of information and some false starts, RBS has now approved City Car Club’s first ever credit line of an initial £250,000, subject to contract and final forms being processed. This was only possible through the EFG scheme (as mentioned in my previous blog post). It’s less than we were hoping for but hey, a great starting point none the less, especially as City Car Club hasn’t yet got to profitability (maiden full year of profitability forecast for next year, at long last).

So in summary, the EFG scheme does appear to be working for some SME’s, but be prepared for a lengthy and time consuming exercise – and there is a lot of criteria that you have to meet to be eligible. I’m a renowned sceptic when it comes to banks, but on this occasion I’ve (thankfully) been proven wrong!

The additional funds, topped up with more from shareholders later in the year, will secure our continued growth plans for fleet expansion in 2011 and beyond.

Overall, a great outcome for everyone involved with City Car Club.

Since the credit crunch, this has constantly been touted as a chronic problem for many small to medium sized businesses. I have personally heard from other businesses, including ones I am still involved with, that are struggling to renew their overdrafts or secure bank loans.

So, in the name of good investigative blogging, I have decided to put this to the test first hand and am looking to secure bank finance for City Car Club for the first time – we have relied on business angel finance to date. My first stop is to visit our existing friendly bank manager, who I have forwarded our three year business plan, cash flow and details of how we got on in 2010 to.

I am also going to find out how accessible the government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme is. This government initiative replaces the old scheme known as the Small Firm Loans Guarantee and is meant to assist SME’s to secure bank funding by guaranteeing up to 75% of a standard bank loan. Although this is much talked about by the government as a real way of assisting SME’s to secure finance that they may otherwise find hard to do directly from a bank, there is equally as much press about how in practice, it is very difficult to actually take advantage of. Another big test that I hope to report back on in coming weeks.

Watch this space!

James Finlayson

City Car Club Managing Director

Sitting back in the familiar surroundings of my mobile office; a train from Glasgow this time. Yesterday, I had a successful meeting with Glasgow City Council with our Scotland Manager, Keith Stark. The great news is that we have finally secured a deal to provide the first council backed car club in Glasgow, launching late September. We will have an expected 20 cars going into the West End and city centre areas by the end of the year, with many more after that.

Although I have good local knowledge of Edinburgh where we currently have 100 cars, I have to admit my geographic knowledge of Glasgow leaves a lot to be desired…. So Keith whizzed me around all the upcoming car club bays and I must say, they’re ideal spots for local residents and businesses. The West End will come on first, followed by the City Centre and Merchant City later in the year. Next task is to work with our Operations Director to get some great new cars that will fill these bays – watch this space for news on what we will run with!

Managed to pop into Edinburgh too, passing fellow CCC members on the M8 (hello to whoever that was!). A quick trip to Edinburgh Airport where we hope to be placing some cars in partnership with BAA – the first time a car club will have linked up with an airport! More news to follow shortly…

Another great trip finished off perfectly with a delicious Scottish meal in a harbour-side restaurant in Leith. I do like Scotland!

This month I was given the opportunity to find out more about the much talked about Tesla, fully electric, two seat sports car. In my usual skeptical-electric-vehicle mode, I popped along to the Knightsbridge showroom, and ended up having the ride of my life in a Lotus Elise look alike (although they assured me only 7% of the components are shared).

In my life before City Car Club I have to confess to being a petrol head with my then much loved Maserati (which I sold when I became MD of CCC). But this knocked the socks off it in terms of acceleration: 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds (and 125 mph limited top speed), not that I did that around Hyde Park or the M40…

Blistering pace, great looks and even has a range of 245 miles before needing to be plugged back into the mains, but at a price of around £90k, I can see why the showroom is only a stones throw from Harrods.

Verdict – great car, literally electrifying pace, shame about the price. Don’t think I’ll be in a position to add these to the City Car Club fleet just yet!