Features & Interviews TNB News

Five minutes with…Toby Poston, BVRLA Chief Executive

16 January 2025 #Features & Interviews #TNB News

You took on the role of BVRLA Chief Executive this month. How do you feel about it?

Having spent 16 years with the association, I am thrilled and honoured for the opportunity to continue working with an industry, membership and team that I have so much respect and affection for.

My role is to continue building the reputation and capabilities of the BVRLA so that it can support members in delivering decarbonisation and responding to a fast-moving regulatory environment.

Further change and challenge are inevitable, but I will ensure that the association is fit for the future and ready to respond.

What does BVRLA do?

The BVRLA represents over 1,000 companies engaged in vehicle rental, leasing and fleet management. Our membership is responsible for a combined fleet of nearly 4.1 million cars, vans and trucks – one-in-ten of all vehicles on UK roads.

Our members represent the demand-side of the automotive industry, buying around 50% of new vehicles, including over 80% of those manufactured and sold in the UK and the majority of electric vehicles hitting our roads.

Together with our members, we work with policymakers, public sector agencies, regulators, and other key stakeholders to ensure that road transport delivers environmental, social and economic benefits to everyone. BVRLA members are leading the charge to decarbonise road transport.

Outline the key challenges the sector faces in the year ahead?

I’ve been reflecting a lot on the key challenges in the year ahead and it’s fair to say that a lot of them are going to revolve around the whole area of decarbonisation. For me, the big thing we have to do this year is try and make sure that our sector, led by this trade association, stays in that leading role of delivering decarbonisation.

We’ve set out our stall really well over the last few years with our fantastic lobbying and public affairs work and we’re in a great position as the government really understands that we are together with the fleet sector really delivering the vast majority of the transition to zero-emission vehicles.

The challenge for this year is to give decision makers an honest update on where we are. Everyone understands that the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate is in a really challenging period where we’ve got imbalanced demand. It is up to us is to make sure that we bring all BVRLA members towards that transition and try and equalise the imbalances we’re seeing.

In practice, what does that mean?

That means having some frank and open discussions with government about where support is needed and how they can work with some of the flexibilities that exist within that mandate. Ultimately, we need to give the key sectors facing imbalanced supply and demand – the rental sector, the used vehicle market and the new retail market – the support they deserve so that we can really do what we do best, which is get people into affordable, sustainable transport.


Toby Poston, BVRLA Chief Executive

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