The Motor Finance Industry Ambassador Award showcases the individual talent that makes up the motor finance industry. Those considered will be highly respected among their peers, have years of varied, senior experience, and – most importantly – be able to represent the industry in a positive light
With a career dating back to the late 1970s, when he joined Lombard as an asset and car finance new business representative from Lloyds Bank, Peter Cottle is in every way a worthy winner of the Motor Finance Industry Ambassador Award.
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His time at Lombard saw him develop into several roles, including special products manager at Austin Rover Finance – a joint venture between Lombard and the manufacturer, managing director of Jaguar Cars Finance, and then to run PSA Finance in 1991, which at the time was a new joint venture between Lombard and PSA.
Describing his time at PSA Finance, Cottle reminisces: “There was a different dimension in that we had our own dedicated team for the first time, whereas Jaguar had appointed account managers within Lombard branches who also had other roles to fulfil.”
Next came roles at Rover Finance – Lombard’s biggest joint venture – and a move from Lombard to Capital Bank, part of RBS, in 1996, where Cottle eventually became deputy managing director in 2006.
In his own words, by 2008 Cottle was looking to do something different. “I’d done everything I really wanted to do within a large bank-owned finance company.
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By GlobalData“I wanted to work for myself, but, being pragmatic about it, ideally wanted to go with something in my back pocket. You’ve got to be brave to step into the very different world of self-employment!”
Ironically, the credit crunch provided him with the opportunity to make the leap, when Lloyds Banking Group took over HBOS. This gave Cottle the chance to move on, and test himself by forming Finance Torque.
Looking back at this period, he says: “I will always be grateful to Chris Sutton, the then-managing director of Black Horse, for the way he handled my departure.”
As a consultant, Cottle worked for a number of companies, including Lombard Wholesale Funding, which was then Carlyle Finance. During this time he also worked with BEN.
One of Cottle’s clients in 2013 was Startline, which at the time was just beginning its journey. Chief executive Paul Burgess was looking for somebody who had relationships with major dealer groups, and had the experience and ability to build some early traction for the company.
Cottle was initially used as a consultant for the company, but eventually became an employee, and has remained with the business ever since.
Startline
At Startline, Cottle’s career has continued to progress alongside the ongoing success of the company.
Startline looks to exploit the gap between prime and subprime, and aims to negotiate with the chief executives, managing directors, or heads of finance and insurance of large dealers groups, and use them as the main touch points – as opposed to using the traditional account-manager approach.
This strategy has worked well, and the success looks certain to continue over the next 12 months as the company aims to develop more relationships with top 200 franchised dealers and top 50 independent dealers.
Cottle explains: “To prosper, we need to keep abreast of what the marketplace is doing.
“At the Motor Finance Europe Conference it was clear that things are moving at pace with technology, with the younger generation demanding different solutions from those of the past.”
Expanding further on the changes taking place in the industry, Cottle notes: “The pace is incredible – I’ve seen more change to our industry in the last five years than the previous 30.
“I’m not being negative about the past – I was there! – but the pace of change 10 or 20 years ago was a lot slower. I think now we are in a really interesting time.”
Another area of interest he highlights is the developing nature of retail models, and how the role of the dealer may fundamentally change in the future, at least for new cars.
“Some manufacturers are experimenting with direct supply to the consumer, a web-based proposition versus the dealer offer, but still the dealer has the cost of operating large expensive premises to exacting franchise standards. This is certainly a situation that is causing some debate.”
PCP is also an area which may develop, Cottle adds. For a number of reasons, PCP has been heavily pushed in the UK by manufacturers, with low rates and deposit contributions common.
Cottle notes: “My worry would be that as Europe improves, or other markets in the world improve, manufacturers do not need to support UK sales as before.
“Then you’ve got customers that bought a car two years ago, with all these incentives, who comes to change, and the deposit contribution has gone and the low rate has disappeared. Has that customer the ability to stay in the same quality of car as before? If not, that makes for an interesting discussion.”
While this is not something he says he is alarmed by, it is something he suggests the industry should keep its eye on.
In general, however, the motor finance world is changing. There are debates to be had on direction and pace of these developments, but there are few who see the industry as static.
Taking on board the themes of the Motor Finance conference, Europe, and the direction in which the industry is developing, Cottle concludes: “I think there are some brave decisions to be made. I will be watching the developments over the coming years with great interest.
“It’s a really fascinating time for our industry, despite all the challenges facing us. My job, and that of my colleagues at Startline, is to ensure we anticipate change as best we can to ensure that we continue to provide a compelling proposition to match the requirements of our dealer partners and their customers.”
