Carparison general manager Matthew Woodward has described how the leasing broker’s operations were propelled to new heights following its AM Awards win.

As entries are being encouraged for the 2023 awards, ahead of a February 23 deadline, Woodward said the confidence, credibility and recruitment boost that followed the business’s 2021 Best Finance or Leasing Brokerage category win had helped the business to innovate and grow.

“The award gave us the confidence that we were really building something different and a bit special and we’ve really run with that as a result,” said Woodward.

“It was also a massive boost to recruitment at a time when we were growing. In the immediate 12-month spell after the awards we were also blown away by the volume and quality of candidates that we attracted.”

He added: “Recruitment has mainly come in the form of account managers, but we’ve also grown our marketing team to continue to develop our brand and also added our own web developers.”

In 2022 Carparison handled around 300 fewer new car and van leases than 2021’s 2,300 units, but delivered a £1 million increase in turnover (around 35%), according to Woodward.

Carparisons’ workforce has swollen to 52, from 25 at the time of the 2021 awards win, and the operation has also grown its sphere of influence despite the impact of COVID-19 and new car supply restrictions.

The business, based at Marsh Barton’s “motor alley”, just outside Exeter, recently opened the Carparison Business Hub.

The showroom-style environment offers fleet operators a physical point of contact where its staff can advise on their car and van leasing choices and topical issues including the transition to electrification.

It has also launched a Corparison offering – operating alongside its existing Carparison and Vanparison brands – to offer advice and consultancy services to fleets and business drivers.

“The key thing about the Fleet Hub is that we’re doing something that the major players in the leasing sector really aren’t doing,” said Woodward.

“They just don’t have the time to communicate with SMEs and we really wanted to engage directly with our local customers.”

To view all the categories available to AM Awards entrants and enter yoyur business, click here.