A former professional footballer has grown his web-based used car sales company 25% in the last year.

Noel Parkinson launched the website wewillbuyyourcar.com in 2006 which aims to make privately selling cars easier.

Users enter the car’s details onto the website and receive an immediate firm offer. A local collection company calls to assess that the vehicle’s condition is as stated and takes it away, at which point payment is made by electronic transfer.

Parkinson will then offload the car through the trade, reported The Sunday Times.

He pays below market value, but said: “We take the pain out of selling your car. You can get an instant offer and it’s free. It also give s you cash to go to dealers and bargain hard.”

Beneficial to dealers

As well as attracting private sellers, it can also help dealers, said Parkinson.

“We can show a dealer in Glasgow a car from Plymouth they would not otherwise have seen.”

He added that it holds about 0.03% of the market, so “there’s a lot more room for expansion”.