Following my recent post on the growing number of van manufacturers who are offering chassis vans with pre-built bodies, a new service from leasing specialists Lombard has caught my attention.

Lombard’s new Van Plus+ service offers the logical companion to an off-the-shelf body – full procurement, specification and preparation services for lease customers’ vans. Lombard say that it will find, specify, fit out, livery and deliver vans to lease customers – saving them huge amounts of time and trouble. I imagine a secondary benefit for Lombard will be that they can control the quality and safety of all such work, thus guaranteeing them better prices for their ex-lease vehicles.

It sounds like a good idea for all concerned, and visitors to this week’s Commercial Vehicle Show at the Birmingham NEC were very impressed, according to Lombard van operations manage Wayne Millard: “Visitors to the stand have been surprised that such a complete, specialist service is available from a leasing company. There has been huge interest, particularly as a result of increasing duty of care requirements [resulting from the recent introduction of the corporate manslaughter act].”