Startline Motor Finance has posted 25% year-on-year growth in new motor finance business in 2021, while staff numbers also rose, from 129 to 160 people.

Paul Burgess, chief executive at Startline, said: “2021 was clearly another year that, while volatile because of Covid and other factors, saw a very strong used car market – and we were able to increase both the business we wrote with existing partners as well as attract new ones.

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“We are now working with around half of the UK’s top 100 franchise dealers by turnover as well as 70% of the top 50 independent car retailers, and are firmly established as the market leader in the near prime lending space.

“These results are very much a testament to the team here at Glasgow, who have adapted superbly to rapidly changing market conditions over the course of the pandemic period and continued to serve both our lending partners and car buyers fantastically well.”

He added that a £292m securitisation exercise carried out in December, where the company floated part of its existing debt book on the London Stock Exchange, would open up future funding sources. This is evidenced by the company already securing a new £400m committed facility to support future growth.

“Notably, we can now move into electric vehicle funding, which was closed to us under our previous funding arrangements but is clearly a key element in future growth, and will be a increasingly important element of our strategy going forward.”

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Burgess said that another major plus point was the way in which the solidity of Startline’s underwriting had also been clearly demonstrated during 2021.

“We’ve operated throughout the pandemic period with historically low levels of non-performance which demonstrates that the fundamentals of our business are extremely sound.”