Lloyds Banking Group buys salary sacrifice specialist Tusker

Lloyds Banking Group has acquired vehicle leasing company Tusker for £300 million.

Tusker, which had a risk fleet of 20,976 cars and vans, according to last year’s FN50, is a specialist in salary sacrifice schemes for electric vehicles (EVs) and ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs).

The vehicle leasing company launched its first salary sacrifice scheme for cars in 2008. Today, it has some 1,300 customers running about 23,000 vehicles of which 60% are EVs, with future orders set to increase that to 77%.

Its customer base, which consists of SMEs, large and mid-size corporates as well as public sector organisations, has grown tenfold in the past 10 years.  

Tusker’s CEO, Paul Gilshan (pictured), said: “Lloyds Banking Group are the obvious choice to take Tusker to the next phase of our growth and I am delighted that we are joining the Lloyds family.

“Not only do we have aligned strategic goals on our commitment to net zero and excellent service, but with their strong financial support we can grow our electric fleet faster by offering exceptional value to our customers, drivers and partners.”

Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed that Tusker will remain as a standalone salary sacrifice business, operating alongside Lex Autolease, the UK's largest leasing company, which has a risk fleet of 282,720 cars and vans.

Based in Watford, Tusker employs more than 250 staff. Lloyds Banking Group said that there are no planned redundancies as a result of today’s announcement. It also confirmed that the existing Tusker management team will remain in place.

Currently, Lloyds Banking Group finances or leases more than one million cars and vans on UK roads through Lex Autolease and its Black Horse division, including one in 10 new electric cars. 

Nick Williams, managing director transport at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “As part of our 2022 strategy, we outlined our ambitions to grow our participation in vehicle leasing and the acquisition of Tusker is a key part of delivering on this with a net-zero focus, at a time when the transition to sustainable methods of transport is a high priority for both our business clients and retail customers.

“Alongside our Lex Autolease business, this acquisition allows Lloyds Banking Group to offer our products and services across a wider section of businesses and enterprises, enabling them to provide competitive benefits packages while helping them transition to net-zero.”

The acquisition of Tusker, said Lloyds, will support its ambition to help Britain build a more sustainable society and achieve its net zero emission targets by 2050 or sooner.