Aston Barclay’s newly-appointed chief executive Tom Marley has said he wants to “catapult the group to higher growth” after negotiating the challenges of COVID-19 and vehicle supply shortages.

The remarketing business officially welcomed Marley – previously managing director of its vehicle acquisition business, The Car Buying Group (TCBG) – on March 1.

Marley said that he was “excited to be leading the group” after it successfully navigated its way through two years of unprecedented sector headwinds.

He said: “During that time, we have invested heavily in improving the business, with new hires, learning and development for our colleagues, new products and improved processes.

“Together with the existing management team which includes Martin Potter, managing director – customer, Justin Lane, chief operating officer, and James Branton, director of The Car Buying Group, we all plan to build on these successes to catapult the group to higher growth, a more integrated offering for our customers and higher profitability.”

Aston Barclay’s executive chairman Greg MacLeod said: “Tom is a natural choice for this overall group leadership role having done an outstanding job leading our TCBG business over the last four years since its acquisition.

“He is now ready to take on much wider responsibilities as the group embarks on its exciting next growth phase post COVID-19.”

MacLeod said that Aston Barclay has set itself “big targets” to ramp up the volume of vehicles it remarkets in 2022.

He added: “The Car Buying Group has even bigger growth targets, and is adopting new strategies in winning new work, with a recent deal to purchase vehicles from an online dealer, which utilises its trusted brand status in the used car world.”