For the third Motor Power 50 list, we’ve changed things a bit. We still have a top 10 for the 10 most popular responses, but aside from this, all names are listed alphabetically. This year we received an unprecedented response from the industry and the Motor Finance team would like to thank all those who voted and contributed. We would also like to congratulate all those who made it onto the final list
11-50
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Adam Wonnacott, sales director, Burlington Group
Wonnacott joined Burlington Group in 2009 as business development manager and was made sales director in 2012. In 2014 Burlington become the first collections firm to become authorised as a principal by the FCA.
Adam Wonnacott, sales director, Burlington Group
Wonnacott joined Burlington Group in 2009 as business development manager and was made sales director in 2012. In 2014 Burlington become the first collections firm to become authorised as a principal by the FCA.
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By GlobalDataAndrew Ballard, principal consultant, automotive, Experian
With almost a decade’s worth of experience at data company Experian, Ballard has spent a lot of time developing products to suit the needs of industry. Given recent rule changes on affordability it is little surprise to see Ballard on the list as companies are now often reliant on companies such as Experian to provide the data necessary to tell whether customers are able to afford a vehicle, as well as their credit rating. Looking ahead, a predicted rise in the use of big data from all sectors in the industry is only likely to increase the importance of credit agencies such as Experian to it.
Andy Gruber, director, Alphera FS
Gruber described 2014 as a ‘record year’ for BMW’s independent finance house.
A keen proponent that the industry should take up the challenge thrown down by the FCA to create a more transparent market, Gruber is also keen for used car dealers to increase the use of PCP in order to improve customer retention levels.
The start of 2015 also saw Alphera change its pricing structure for dealers and brokers, eliminating customer fees among other things.
Andy Shuter, joint managing director, Frontline Solutions
Shuter runs IT provider Frontline Solutions alongside Martin Hill. The past year saw the launch of broker tool DealTrak LIVE, specifically designed around the changing requirements within the motor finance industry.
Colin Tourick, management consultant
Serial author Tourick’s varied industry-related history of over 35 years includes time at LeasePlan, BNP Paribas, and CitiCapital Fleet, where he was managing director. His most recent book was titled Whole Life Costs: a guide for fleet professionals.
Dan Parnell, head of fleet and finance, Glass’s
Having moved over from CAP to Glass’s in 2012, the past 12 months saw Parnell at the centre of Glass’s attempt to break into CAP’s residual values market. The move was only announced in August, so it is too early to see the results of this challenge, however the company did receive a big ‘win’ in November when Auto Trader switched over to Glass’s as it sought to expand the breadth of its search options.
Daren Wiseman, valuations manager, Manheim
An alumni of CAP, Wiseman joined Manheim Europe as valuations services manager in 2009. The past 12 months have seen Manheim maintain its place as one of the biggest auction companies in the UK, including acquiring Scottish auction house Shotts Motor Auctions for an undisclosed sum in March and a majority share in Brazilian company CarBizz in August. Behind the scenes, 2014 also saw parent group Cox Enterprises reorganise its automotive brands, including Manheim and Motors.co.uk, into a seperate subsidiary, Cox Automotive. This had little impact on Manheim, though, which maintained its own branding and remained operationally independent.
David Andrews, managing director, Ford Credit
The managing director of the captive finance provider for the largest manufacturer in the country, it is little surprise that Andrews made the Power 50. Much of Ford’s success in recent years has been down to its popular range of cars, as well as the competitive finance offerings provided alongside them. The past 12 months also saw the Ford Mondeo become CAP’s car of choice for value retention, while in August the TrustFord identity was rolled out across the company’s entire network of 65 sites in the UK.
Doug Gillies, managing director, Toyota FS
Gillies has been the head of Toyota Financial Services since 2009, when he replaced David Betteley. According to SMMT figures Toyota sold 94, 012 cars in 2014 in the UK, up 6% on the number sold in 2013.
Gary Hill, sales director, Billing Finance
Hill has been a key figure at Billing Finance since he joined approximately seven years ago. As sales director, Hill has been an important figure in helping the company maintain the strong levels of growth it has managed over recent years as the industry moves out of recession mode and into growth mode.
Greg Standing, Wragge lawrence graham & Co
Partner Greg Standing heads the firm’s team across the financial services spectrum, but specialises in the automotive and asset finance niches.
A regular contributor to Motor Finance, Standing frequently advises on the Consumer Credit Act and the FCA. Several of his legal pieces for this publication have been on these topics, but others have been on electronic signatures and on the potential problems of refusing mediation.
James Broadhead, managing director, Close Brothers Motor Finance
Managing director of Close Brothers Motor Finance (which was rebranded from Close Motor Finance in 2014), Broadhead has been at the challenger bank’s motor finance division for 15 years, during which time the finance provider has grown substantially. A recent example of this growth has been in the motorcycle division. Over the previous 12 months, Close agreed a motorcycle partnership with Italian performance motorbike manufacturer MV Agusta, and recruited three account specialists in the sector.
James Tew, chief executive officer, iVendi
As the industry moves towards increasingly technologically savvy solutions, it’s likely that companies such as iVendi will become increasingly important. The past year has seen the company focus on regulation, while in November it also agreed to provide MotoNovo’s 2,000 dealer users with its Nexus 2 finance traffic platform.
Ian Rendle, chief executive officer, CAP Automotive
Chief executive of CAP since 2006, Rendle oversaw the acquisition of CAP by Solera Holdings for approximately £296m in cash in 2014. Speaking to Motor Finance at the time of the deal, Rendle said it would allow CAP to expand in the future, as it worked with other Solera companies such as HPI, but assured us that "CAP will still be CAP".
The year hasn’t been without its challenges, however, chief among them Glass’s decision to launch a challenger product in the residual value space. How the battle between these two play out will be interesting to see in the future.
James Wilkinson and Ryan Digman, chief executive officer and director, Car Loan 4U
Wilkinson and Digman together founded online broker Car Loan 4U in 2006 while still in their early 20s. Eight years later, and the broker was named the 13th fastest-growing digital company in Europe at the GP Bullhound Media Momentum Awards 2014. It was also ranked as the 83rd best small company to work for in the country in March 2014 in its first year of entering the competition, with the open management style being among the chief reasons for this.
Jarrod Bradley, director, Auto Union Finance
Alphera’s broker of the year for 2013, Bradley’s Auto Union Finance was founded in 1993, and works with over 20 lenders in both the prime and sub-prime space.
Joanne Davis, partner, DWF
As with other partners at law firms in the Motor Finance Power 50, Davis has played an important role in informing the debate over the regulatory changes going on in the UK as a result of the FCA. Beyond this, Davis has provided very real help to companies struggling to cope with the vast array of changes that have occurred over the past few months.
Joe Crump, managing director, Honda Finance Europe
In 2014 Crump replaced previous Power 50 top 10 recipient Philip Ross as head of Honda Finance. Crump was tasked with the objective of helping Honda to increase its market share of the UK car and motorcycle markets, as well as developing the brand across Europe.
While Crump has been in his current role for less than a year, he has over eight years of experience at Honda Finance Europe.
John Hughes, director, Mann Island Finance
In April, Mann Island Finance was acquired by challenger bank Investec. The bank already had a large presence in asset finance, and previously owned brokerage Leasedirect Finance, which it sold at the end of 2013.
At the time of the acquisition, Hughes said: "We’ve known the Investec team for quite some time and have developed strong existing relationships particularly in the commercial vehicle market for LCVs and HGVs which we will now look to develop. At the same time, we will also continue to evolve our highly successful finance brokering business which has been the foundation of our success for so many years."
John Simpson, head of Motor Finance, Moneyway
Although Simpson only replaced his predecessor Andy MacMorine in June 2014, a lot has been achieved at the independent lender since then. Arguably the biggest upheaval the company went through was the move into the prime sector the company made towards the back end of 2014.
This was perhaps symbolic of Simpson’s style during his young tenureship of the lender, as he has sought a number of ways to increase how much money is lent. Another example of this is increasing the maximum credit that can be lent from £15,000 to £25,000.
Julian Rance, head of car finance, Paragon
One of the themes of 2014 was the number of new entrants coming to market, one of which was Paragon Finance. This is Paragon’s second shot at the UK motor finance market, having originally written business between 1998 and 2008 before the recession. During this time it wrote approximately £900m worth of business.
This time, however, the company has a banking licence to back the finance arm up with capital, and Rance has made sure the company is well prepared after a number of key hirings over the course of 2013, including Richard Hardy and Scott Yendell as regional sales managers for the North and South, respectively.
Katherine Clark, solicitor, Ford and Warren
As with other lawyers on this list, Clarke’s inclusion in the Power 50 reflects the high value industry insiders place on her insight into the increasingly complicated legal requirements facing those who operate within it. Clark also regularly contributes to Motor Finance magazine.
Mark Standish and Karl Werner, chief executive officer and sales director, MotoNovo
Standish joined independent lender MotoNovo at the end of the last millennium as chief executive officer, having trained through the ranks at Wagon Finance and the Capital Bank for the decade prior to that. Werner joined MotoNovo shortly after Standish, having previously worked at companies including Lombard.
Under Standish’s leadership, MotoNovo has been one of the companies at the forefront of FCA regulation, and in 2014 it was granted an early ‘landing slot’. At the time, Standish said he saw this as an opportunity to be an "industry pathfinder" for regulation, as the funder worked with its dealer partners in the current, changing regulatory times.
Melanie Chell, partner, Shoosmiths
Given the huge pressure that finance companies, dealers, brokers and all aspects of the motor finance industry have been under from the new regulator in recent years, it’s little surprise to see Shoosmiths partner Chell in the power 50. Chell is a regular contributor for Motor Finance, including articles on the Consumer Rights Bill.
Mike Hawes, chief executive officer, SMMT
Hawes joined the SMMT in September 2013, following 20 year of working in policy and public affairs, the majority of which was in relation to the motor finance industry. Companies he worked at in this period included Bentley Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen AG.
Over the past 12 months the SMMT has presided over a manufacturing and trading industry which grew, by the SMMT’s own figures, by 9.3%. This outstripped the European average, and was higher than France and Germany, which were the closest to the UK in terms of sales
Neil Hodson, managing director, HPI
HPI’s managing director since August, Hodson has over 20 years’ of experience in the used car market. Hodson joined the technology company from Manheim – a company he had been at since 2007.
Before this he spent over a decade at Experian Automotive, where he was, involved in setting up Experian’s challenger product to HPI, Car Data Checker.
The company he joined has had a busy year, culminating in the launch of a data tool, REACT.
The year ahead also bodes well, as its parent company’s acquisition of valuations company CAP allows the potential for the two companies to work increasingly closer together, though nothing has been announced at the time of writing.
Nick Langley, managing director, Car Loans Express
Langley has been managing director of Car Loans express since 2006. Although the company was traditionally a subprime player, it has also expanded to serve a wider customer base in recent years. Langley is also founder and managing director of 1st Stop Motor Company, an internet-based motor supply business, which was officially launched in 2012. The two companies work in parallel, but are run as totally separate businesses, with separate staff.
Paul Bentley, commercial director, Lookers Motor Group
Bentley has been the commercial director of Lookers Group for over a decade. The group was founded in 1908, and consists of a number of companies, including Taggarts Motor Group, Lookers Used Car Supermarket and the Lomond Audi Group.
Richard Hoggart, managing director, DSG
Hoggart has been managing director of the UK brokerage since the 1990s and is a regular commentator in Motor Finance, including most recently an article on the importance of keeping positive consumer outcomes at the forefront of one’s mind as a broker.
DSG grew rapidly in 2014, as it looked to take advantage of a growing market. There is general consensus that the broker market is going to become increasingly technologically advanced in the near future, and in this regard DSG is well prepared. For example it has partnered with technology company IOCS to launch an eSign platform.
Richard Schooling, chief executive officer, Alphabet
With the exception of a four-year stint as chief operating officer at parent group BMW Group Financial Services, Schooling has been at Alphabet since 1997.
2014 saw Alphabet push electric cars for its fleet solutions as strongly as any company. This included launched an e-valuation tool capable of analysing a fleet’s existing vehicles and highlighting where electric vehicles could replace existing cars. The company also launched an LCV-approved partner network in the UK, the first step in developing an LCV business over the next two years.
Simon Shuttleworth, managing director, Peak Collections
Having worked in the industry as managing director of Peak for decades, Shuttleworth knows collections better than most. With the advent of the FCA, the collections industry has moved from being simply licensed to being fully regulated, so this knowledge will become increasingly important to his clients.
Shamus Hodgson, director, Moneybarn
Hodgson joined Moneybarn back when the company was known by its original name of Duncton, and before it moved into the titular barn.
He is considered a key figure at the subprime motor finance provider, which was sold for £120m to Provident.
Explaining Moneybarn’s success in 2014 in dealing with the FCA, Hodgson told Motor Finance: "I think the advantage we have is we’ve always been quite risk-averse and quite traditional in our view of life."
Steve Gowler, managing director, RCI Financial Services
Gowler has been managing director of RCI Financial Services, the captive finance provider of Renault, Nissan and Infiniti, since July 2007. Before this he had been managing director of Nissan Finance GB since 2002, a company he had been involved in creating in 1997. Gowler also currently sits on the FLA board.
The start of 2014 saw RCI FS bring its contract hire business in-house, bringing to an end a four-year working relationship in the field it had had with Arval. At the time RCI made it clear this was a strategic decision to reflect a changing market across Europe, and in no way a reflection of Arval’s performance.
Sue Robinson, director, NFDA
Summing up 2014 for the dealers she represents, Robinson said a combination of increased retail demand in the UK, competitive finance offers from manufacturers and customers looking to replace older, less fuel-efficient cars spurred a jump in performance from dealers. In addition, she said she expects the market to perform well in 2015, and build on last year’s success.
However it will not be plain sailing for dealers, as upcoming FCA regulation is due to hit dealers as hard as any group. In this, the role the National Franchised Dealers Association plays as a thought leader in guiding its members could be crucial.
Tarun Mistry, partner, Grant thornton
Accountant Mistry began his career training at Coopers & Lybrand before moving into industry to work for various equipment leasing and consumer finance industries as finance director. In 2004 he joined Grant Thornton, and now leads the firms asset and consumer finance sector team.
Trevor Finn, chief executive, Pendragon
Finn first joined Pendragon when it was just a vehicle division of Williams PLC in 1982, and was named chief executive of Pendragon prior to a demerger between the two in 1989. Since then the dealership has grown steadily, including developing a presence in California. Although at the time of writing results hadn’t been released, Finn has revealed that full-year results for the multi-site dealership will be ahead of expectations in 2014 as new car registrations reach pre-recession levels accross the UK.
Vik Hill, managing director, Santander Consumer Finance
Before joining Santander Consumer Finance, Hill spent time as director of First National Motor and as a manager at Lombard North Central.
Vince Cable, secretary of state, department FOR business, Innovation and Skills
How long Vince Cable remains relevant to motor finance will very much rely on the results of this year’s general election. But until then, and over the previous four or so years, Cable has been a key figure in a number of initiatives and drives that have helped shape the face of the UK’s industry.
One thing he has been especially proud of has been the money he made available for companies to lend, which has had undoubted repercussions for everyone in industry, even beyond those who were directly involved in the cheap credit.
The Top Ten
Chris Sutton, managing director, Black Horse
As head of the largest independent lender, Black Horse reported 33% year-on-year growth for the first half of 2014 in July. At the end of 2014, Sutton told Motor Finance: "The continued strong performance of new and used car sales has been welcomed by the industry as a whole and is testament to the hard work of both manufacturers and dealers alike, offering a good range of new models, introducing new technology to entice consumers through the door, alongside affordable finance."
Black Horse’s importance to the industry was shown in the exclusive advertising agreement it signed with CAP Automotive in April. The year also saw Black Horse expand its finance agreement with Suzuki to include the manufacturer’s motorcycle selection.
Ed Paulat, chief operating officer, GMAC
2014 was the first full-year period for GMAC since it was made the exclusive finance provider for owner GM’s UK offerings in the fourth quarter of 2013. Speaking to Motor Finance in April, Paulat noted that the effects on business had occurred quickly in terms of increased penetration and volume.
GMAC is also investing on improving the number of young people coming into motor finance from its home town in Cardiff. As a result, 2014 saw the first award of the ‘Vauxhall Finance Award of Excellence’ for a student at Cardiff University, and the lender is a participant in the Welsh Financial Graduate Programme.
George Osborne, chancellor of the exchequer
As the country moves towards arguably the most unpredictable election in recent memory, there’s a chance this could be Osborne’s final entry into the Power 50 list. The politician’s trademark policy of fiscal prudence or austerity, depending on where in the political spectrum you sit, hasn’t dampened growth in the industry. Regardless, as the Chancellor for at least another few months, Osborne still has the potential to make significant changes to the economy, which would inevitably impact motor finance.
Graham Wheeler, joint managing director, VWFS
Wheeler has held various positions at VWFS since 1995, including his current role as managing director, a position he has held since 2004.
Despite changing former partner Lisa Stacey for Albert van den Bergh last year, Wheeler and VWFS had a successful 2014 as they waited for their brand new Milton Keynes headquarters to be built.
In October the company revealed it had broken through the £10bn portfolio mark thanks to a penetration rate of more than 60% on a range of brands as diverse as Lamborghini and Seat.
Ian Smith, chief executive officer, BMW FS
Having worked at various roles at BMW since before the Millennium, including time as president at BMW FS Brazil and president of BMW Group FS Canada, it’s safe to say Ian Smith understands what makes the brand’s finance side tick.
The past 12 months saw BMW FS post growth in both Q1 and Q3, and despite a drop of 1.9% gross profits in Q3, 2014 should be considered a success. The end of 2014 also saw BMW FS announce a new business plan. Although the finance provider was working on the plan before the FCA took over, much of it will be applicable, and should help ease partners through the regulatory hurdles to come.
Mark Carney, Governor, Bank of England
It is a popular theory that shrewd money lenders have been able to profit from the historic low interest rates in the UK in the past few years. In this time, the motor finance industry has grown at a much faster rate than the general economy. Recent months have seen speculation ebb and flow over how long interest rates will stay as they are, but it seems certain that at some point they will go up. The questions are when will this happen, and how fast will they go up. Given the potential impact a change of interest rate might have on the industry, it’s little surprise Carney made it into the top 10.
Martin Wheatley, chief executive, FCA
Ranked as the most influential person in the industry in the previous Power 50, it’s no surprise to see Wheatley so high again this time round. It’s been a big 12 months for the Financial Conduct Authority, a period that has not necessarily gone as well as Wheatley may have wished. From 1 April, the FCA has been the regulator for consumer credit, including motor finance, but that just marked the starting point of the regulatory journey. Since then a Daily Telegraph story on the FCA’s plans in the insurance industry caused serious problems he won’t want to see repeated.
Oliver Mackaness, director, Billing Finance
Ever present in the Power 50, Mackaness heads Billing Finance, which has remained a competitive family-run player in the subprime finance market for over 30 years.
A particular highlight of 2015 was securing a large three-year revolving finance deal from RBS. The new facility will allow Billing to grow, and Mackaness plans to grow lending from approximately £1.3-1.4m a month to £2m a month over the next three years.
Peter Minter, managing director, MoneyBarn
2014 was one of the biggest years in Moneybarn’s history, as the company was sold to non-standard finance provider Provident for £120m. Minter, along with the entire Moneybarn management team was kept on. This was unsurprising given that since he joined Moneybarn in 2002, then called Duncton, the company has gone from a relatively small player in the subprime market to a major force to contend with, surviving a recession in the process.
Even before the buyout, the lender moved into much larger premises in order to cope with the rapidly growing headcount, and the company has also experienced dramatic growth in its business levels alongside this.
Stephen Sklaroff, director general of the FLA
As a result of the FCA, the role of the FLA has never been more important, and the association has been vital in lobbying on the industry’s behalf. And while there are still areas of the regulation people are not happy with, the final FCA regulation was much more acceptable to many in the industry than it was in its original incarnation, directly as a result of FLA input.
The next 12 months will see the FLA continue to try and improve the FCA, and support its members in gaining full authorisation.
