Who are the 50 most influential and powerful people in UK car finance? Richard Brown, James Callery,
Mike Cobb, and Jonathan Minter find out
For the second year, Motor Finance asked each of you, the UK car finance industry to nominate the top 10 individuals who could bring change to the sector, for better or worse. We’ve counted your answers and totalled a top 50 people, top 20 organisations and, from 153 individuals who were nominated, calculated the strength of voting by subdivision of the industry
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The first 10 names on the list are a mix of senior staff at independent lenders and national brokers, with the only representatives of the fleet sector and motor journalism in the top 50. As a sign of the shifting landscape in car finance this year, all bar two of these first 10 are new entrants to the list.
50. Paul Bentley
Group F&I director, Lookers Motor Group
49. Ronnie Denholm
Managing director, Barclays Partner Finance
48. Dave Alabaster
Managing director, What Car Credit
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By GlobalData47. Mike Hawes
Chief executive, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
46. Mike Rutherford
Mr Money, The Telegraph
45. Richard Schooling
Chief executive, Alphabet (GB)
44. Gerald Grimes
Managing director, Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance
43. Graham Prestedge
Marketing director, Santander Consumer Finance
42. Nick Langley
Managing director, Car Loans Express
41. John Hughes
Director, Mann Island Finance
The next 15
Places 40 to 26 on the list belie the focus on brokers and subprime lenders this year, plus the first heavyweights of captive finance, the highest-placed representative of a dealership and the highest-placed IT provider in the industry.
40. Reg Rix
Managing director, Car Finance 247
39. Ryan Dignan
Director, Car Loan 4U
38. Steve Reynolds
Group F&I manager, Stoneacre and Stoneacre Financial Services
37. Jarrod Bradley
Director, Auto Union Finance
36. Andy Shuter
Managing director, Frontline Solutions
35. Karl Werner
Sales director, MotoNovo Finance
34. Trevor Finn
Chief executive, Pendragon
33. Steve Gowler
Managing director, RCI Financial Services
32. Andy McMorine
Head of motor finance, Moneyway
31. Ed Paulat
Chief operating officer, GMAC
30. Adam Wonnacott
Sales director, Burlington Group
29. Oliver Mackaness
Director, Billing Finance
28. James Lockley
Managing director, MK Car Finance
27. Vince Cable MP
Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
26. Gary Hill
Sales director, Billing Finance
25 – 11
The next 15 in the top 50 continue the prevalence of both intermediaries and non-prime lenders alongside representation from major independent finance houses and captive finance providers. Also included are two individuals with such a grip on the control and application of money in the UK, they could feasibly make a list of the most powerful people in the nation right now.
25. Melanie Chell
Partner, Shoosmiths
24. Martin Morgan
Director, New Look Loans
23. Shamus Hodgson
Sales director, Moneybarn
22. George Osborne MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
21. Mark Carney
Governor of the Bank of England
On Her Majesty’s service
As Chancellor and Governor of the Bank of England, Osborne and Carney hold the levers to the national economy and how they manipulate them affects what consumers and companies can afford. Osborne could mould the motor finance sector in ways and to extents unavailable to anybody else: it is Her Majesty’s Treasury which has set the tempo and legislative outlook for the FCA and has set significant tax changes this year on fuel duty and emissions standards.
And, as one person to nominate Carney simply said:
"He controls our pricing"
20. Ian Kennah
Owner, Kennah Motor Credit
19. Carl Eccles
Industry director, Car Loan 4U
Finance on the virtual superhighway
Co-founders James Wilkinson and Ryan Dignan opened Car Loan 4U in 2006 and were joined two years later by current industry director Carl Eccles. Since then, the company has continued to grow, and 2013 was no exception.
In February, Experian Hitwise ranked the company as the most-visited car finance broker online. In April, Car Loan 4U launched a smartphone application to keep motorists updated on finance demands. In June, it was named as the 23rd fastest-growing digital company in Europe with a 142% rise in unique visitors in a year. The same month it arranged its first EV finance deal, helping sell the first Mia-Electric in the UK. In October, the company celebrated its first anniversary of a partnership with Auto Trader which brought in 14,000 brokered loans. The year was capped with a double win at the Manchester Young Talent Awards.
18. Andrew Marsh
Managing director, Marsh Finance
17. David Andrews
Managing director, Ford Credit
16. James Wilkinson
Managing director, Car Loan 4U
15. Mark Standish
Managing director, MotoNovo Finance
14. Ian Smith
Chief executive, BMW Group Financial Services
13. Mike Britton
Sales director, Barclays Partner Finance
Brokers’ record
Of the top 50, a dozen perform some form of broker activity, nine of which are primarily intermediaries (as opposed to four last year), including Car Loan 4U (below). As with last year, Richard Hoggart of DSG is the highest-placed broker.
Having worked at a number of blue-chip organisations such as telecoms provider BT and CRM provider Clarify Nortel, Shaun Armstrong founded internet broker Creditplus in 2004, based in Poole, Dorset. The business has grown steadily since then, winning an Eden Internet Business Award in 2008, in line with the steady increase in the subprime market.
Hoggart has just celebrated DSG’s 25th birthday following a number of initiatives over the previous 12 months. In February DSG secured the provision of a variable rate product from Hitachi Capital and began replacing its dealer quote system, allowing dealers to assess whether a prime or non-prime application is suitable for the customer.
In April the company was able to set up its Glasgow branch office as DSG Financial Services Scotland Ltd, an independent business. The company also opened Yorkshire-based luxury car finance operation Magnitude Finance, expanding DSG’s prestige offerings after its merger with Bridford Financial Solutions in 2012.
12. Shaun Armstrong
Owner and managing director, Creditplus
11. Richard Hoggart
Managing director, DSG Financial Services
10. Lisa Stacey
Joint managing director, Volkswagen Financial Service
9. Vik Hill
Managing director, Santander Consumer Finance
8. Stephen Sklaroff
Director general, Finance & Leasing Association
Fighting talk
Much of FLA’s time in 2013 was spent lobbying on behalf of the industry and informing the debate regarding the creation of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), replacing the Financial Services Authority this year and subsuming regulation of consumer credit from the Office of Fair Trading as of April 2014.
From April to December, Stephen Sklaroff has warned the timetable for change was too tight, given the sheer quantity of alterations. One of the examples of the FLA’s success has been the introduction of a two-year ‘lighter touch’ period at the start of the FCA’s regime. In October Sklaroff said the FCA had listened to the feedback and, as a result, had "lightened" it’s proposed regulatory burdens.
Likewise, Paul Harrison, has informed much of the regulation debate – alongside Philip Ross and Peter Minter – advising the industry in September to "get to know the FCA, because they are going to get to know you". Harrison has also presided over the motor finance arm of the FLA during a period of rapid growth in the industry, up 24% year-on-year to £20.19bn of lending by the latest figures. Penetration of the new car registrations market by FLA members hit an all-time high of 74.5% in August. Meanwhile, the FLA has relaunched financingyourcar.org.uk, an online guide to car finance, and in March noted that almost three-quarters of the top 50 UK car dealers had been approved under the scheme.
7. Philip Ross
Managing director, Honda Finance Europe; Chairman, FLA
6. Graham Wheeler
Joint managing director, Volkswagen Financial Service
Captive competition
Representation of manufacturers’ captive finance partners in the top 10 has increased from two positions to three compared to last year, although still only drawn from two companies: Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) and Honda Finance Europe (replacing Ford Credit this year).
While other funders may have found capital hard to come by in 2013, VWFS was boosted at the end of last year with a £1.6bn bond listing.
Although Graham Wheeler and Lisa Stacey of VWFS have stuck to subvented finance as much as any other captive partner, high-deposit offers with 0% have reduced, and the captive has instead proffered the latest Golf at £199 a month over three years, with free insurance on the Up!, Polo and latest Beetle, facilitated limited offers on 4x4s, a range of deals across Seat models and discounts on selected kodas.
According to Wheeler (at the FLA Motor Finance Convention this time last year): VWFS is adding 500,000 new contracts each year in the UK and managing a fifth of all cars in the new captive market; brand customers are 10% more likely to buy another Volkswagen if they are using VWFS; and an estimated £20bn is circulating between the VW brand, its customers and VWFS.
Highlights this year for Wheeler and Stacey include breaking ground on the 100,000 sq ft headquarters for VWFS in Milton Keynes, opening late 2014, and a revision of the sales target for Audi, which looks set to be the fourth-best-selling marque in the UK.
For VWFS worldwide, new contracts for the first three-quarters of the year is up 11.2% to 3.1 million with global profit steady at 1.1bn (£928m) while dropping 3% for the Volkswagen Group. This has included the fifth anniversary of VW Bank in Ireland, passing the 500m mark and seeing penetration rise 48% year-on-year for the Audi brand
5. Andy Gruber
Director, Alphera Financial Services
4. Paul Harrison
Head of motor finance, Finance & Leasing Association
3. Chris Sutton
Managing director, Black Horse
2. Peter Minter
Managing director, Moneybarn; Chairman, motor finance division, FLA
1. Martin Wheatley
Chief executive, Financial Conduct Authority
Wheatley will oversee the FCA as it takes over regulation of the motor finance industry in April 2014, the most pressing issue
in the sector, it appears. A former regulator in Hong Kong, then the FSA, Wheatley started life at the London Stock Exchange.
Consultation has been a welcome
hallmark of his organisation’s dealings with the motor finance industry.
However, the success or failure of the rapid transfer to the FCA will be just the first of many tests for Wheatley in 2014
