Choosing the company car is one chore that no executive ever wants to put on the long finger. Few tasks give so much pleasure as the search for a new gleaming machine. 

We went to dealer Charles Hurst to find out what the busy boss is searching for. It seems that for some buyers, badge trumps spec. Given the choice of a mid market model offering more bells and whistles than an upmarket rival, a number of business people will opt for the less well equipped but fancier marque. And who says executives are hard headed unemotional types? 

Nowadays executives have such a big range to select from because in addition to the more familiar names, luxury manufacturers are targeting the business executive market. Jeff McCartney, Dealer Principal,  reveals that you can buy a brand new Maserati to impress your colleagues for under £50,000. 

But like many other business decisions, if you’re not careful your decision can cost you much more than the upfront price tag or the monthly payment. That’s because the government is using the personal tax system to heavily penalise drivers of gas guzzling vehicles.

Two mid range cars can attract radically different charges depending on how much CO2 they produce. David Waugh from accountancy firm Hamilton Morris Waugh says the annual tax bill for the more polluting vehicle can be thousands of pounds higher than for the greener machine. You can work out the costs with an iPhone app HMW have produced.

Whatever your eventual choice of motor, there is the small matter of how you pay for it. Most will not want to take all the hit at one go. They’ll opt for hire purchase or contract hire. David Waugh has useful advice on that and on whether you should buy direct from the dealer or use an intermediary.

Given you’ve now just landed yourself with a expensive monthly car payment, we’ve a tip on how you could get some useful R&D done at absolutely no cost to your company. Dr Mervyn Smyth of Ulster University’s School of the Built Environment explains how, for a project you’ve devised, you can harness the skills and expertise of final year students. 

Start-up Section

This week our start-up is Talnet. Talnet is aiming to be the social networking website for people and businesses specialising in the creative industries to help them build more connections and look for work. These include areas such as Film & TV, Theatre, Music, Modelling, Arts, Fashion & Textiles, Animation, Photography, Radio, Visual Effects and Publishing.