There are two things that an older school minibus has that a new one doesn’t.

The first could be could be called ‘character’ and ‘history’ – the result of an eventful past made up of away games, field trips and residentials. Which is rather nice really.

Unfortunately the second factor associated with an older minibus is the monthly bills for repairs, maintenance and upgrades and all the hassle that involves.  Not so nice!

Indeed, when it comes to maintenance work for the minibus, I’m sure that the vast majority of us would prefer not to have to ensure that the tyres, the clutch, the battery, etc, are all checked regularly.

However, if you can give up the heritage and history, you can now breathe a sigh of relief by giving the old bus a decent retirement and replacing it with a brand new leased minibus that comes complete with a maintenance contract.

So you get the benefit of a new minibus which is less likely to have problems – plus the option of having a professional undertake all the standard maintenance and servicing.

This effectively reduces the onus that is put on the person who is nominated in the school’s transport policy to look after the minibus. Indeed, it was to overcome issues and difficulties such as this that we introduced full maintenance as part of our minibus leasing.

And there is an additional benefit in leasing, which is that the purchase of the bus doesn’t come in one lump sum from school funds. Rather the bus is paid for as it is used by the school.

Not only do the schools that use our service get a new minibus without having to use current capital to buy it, but they also get our certification that the bus has been checked by qualified engineers.

Given that the majority of school minibuses on the road are over five years old, this approach can be particularly valuable.

For more information about Benchmark Leasing you can go to our website, call us on 01753 859944 or email minibus@benchmarkleasing.co.uk