CCL: software ambitions through diversification
23.10.2001

Corporate Computer Lease plc (CCL) moved into prestigious new headquarters in July to enable the company to expand with an aggressive recruitment programme.

Managing director Suki Gallagher explained that the IT market is very buoyant with massive funding opportunities.
She said:

"Bloor Research predicts that IT directors in Europe will use or consider financing 80% of IT acquisitions by 2002. New trends such as application rental from ASPs (application service providers) and the accelerating deployment lifecycles of IT are changing the face of its procurement. Leasing at the cutting edge of customised IT solutions is essential."

CCL was established in 1993 and has always focused on a niche market providing finance for companies looking to invest in IT with an emphasis on software.

"Many people thought we were foolish to have a limited focus when we started," Gallagher recalled, "given the industry issues at the time. It was difficult for us but we succeeded with our own financial resources. Today we still remain privately owned and have no external investment. We have been offered the opportunity to provide funding in other areas but have declined such approaches. This has proved to be the right decision."

One of Gallagher's visions is to float the company to leverage the balance sheet. She also wants to build CCL into a truly global business offering both banks and customers access to different markets. 2000 was a good year for CCL although an expensive one in terms of investments for the future.

Gallagher said:

"Since we began we have enabled our customers to grow their global market share by 1% - some $13trn. This just hints at the potential for expansion."

That said, she is frustrated by her perception that finance houses are slow to innovate.

"They have to wake up to the changes that are taking place and open up the market to meet demand,"
she stressed.

CCL has well-established links with many financial organisations around the globe.

Gallagher said:

"Part of my remit is to look for other funders that are interested in IT investments, that have innovative products and that are prepared to invest in software in particular".

The company has lost six funders to GE Capital Equipment Finance (GECEF) as a result of acquisition.

"This has been challenging," Gallagher said, "but we have a strong relationship with a number of lenders that will give GE a run for its money. Not everyone wants to conduct business the GE way. We must continue to diversify."

That said, CCL enjoys a solid relationship with GECEF and has been the lessor's top broker in recent months. The company helped to design, test and develop The WIZ (web interactive zone), GECEF's business-to-business integrated extranet offering tailormade finance solutions for the office equipment and IT industries.

"We played a pivotal role in the success of the GEWIZ product," Gallagher added.

She stressed that funders must acknowledge that brokers still have an important role, particularly in their attention to personal service. For their part, she believes that it is imperative that brokers behave with integrity and have a professional image. Dress-down days are not part of the CCL culture.

CCL is expanding into global markets. 2000 saw the company conclude one of its largest deals worth £4.5m that was signed in Belgium with a German bank. Gallagher explained that the strategy does not include targeting particular countries.

She said:

"Many of our software house partners have a global presence. We go where the business need dictates and we will partner these software authors and resellers and mirror their success throughout the world. Some of the support we have received from continental European funders in particular has been very good."

The company has recently signed up for its first euro deal for a Dutch company that was funded by a European financier. CCL focuses on tailormade solutions to meet a client's exact requirements. The company also provides innovative futureproof rental programmes facilitating the acquisition of rapidly evolving IT by incorporating planned upgrade routes.

The company's trademarked Rental Exchange® enables customers to upgrade without increasing their monthly repayments.

"Rental Exchange¬ is a cornerstone of our business," Gallagher con-firmed. "As well as meeting customers' needs, it affords software houses protection of their customer base. We believe that this is an essential way of adding real value to our strategic business partnerships."

The company will shortly be launching a new web site and a demanding marketing programme designed to promote, in Gallagher's words,

"The huge difference CCL can make to any organisation's future".

The company has plans for online and real-time deal approvals as well as the facility to choose financial solutions from a panel of competitive online offerings, opening up the market to take advantage of the massive IT funding potential.