Company Cars Useful Recruiter’s Tool, Survey Shows

LONDON – Company cars remain the biggest draw that U.K. businesses can use to attract fresh talent, a survey shows.

Research by independent vehicle supplier OSV shows 54% of all interviewees thought the best perk of their job would be a company car.

Of even more interest to recruiters is that 25% of all workers in the study claim a company car was the deciding factor when taking a job, and 22% stated they had declined a job offer because it didn’t include a company vehicle.

One of the main reasons, given by 47% of survey respondents, for the attraction of a company car was that it provides an opportunity to drive a standard of vehicle they would not normally aspire to, thanks either to personal financial issues or because their partner would not have agreed to the extra financial commitment.

While premium brands such as Audi, BMW and Volkswagen are the most popular fleet models, it seems upping the specifications of vehicles could be the quickest way to bag the best employees.

Despite these findings, only 10% of business owners and managers said they intend to invest more in fleet cars during the next financial year.

“We’ve looked at this subject in the past and the draw of a good company vehicle has increased by 21% in the last year alone,” OSV joint-company director Debbie Kirkley says. “That’s really quite staggering, and it would be fascinating to find out what has motivated this change.

“Whatever the reasons behind the draw towards company cars, it seems that few employers appreciate the increasing importance of their fleet when it comes to attracting talent, given that so few are prepared to invest in upgrading their vehicles this year.”