The AM Awards 2021’s Best Finance or Leasing Brokerage award winner is a business looking to capitalise on the growth of the personal contract hire market and, since its launch, has grown rapidly.

Fuelling Carparison’s rapid trajectory are investment in IT and automated systems, a growing workforce, and a desire to keep it simple, clear and trustworthy for consumers, such as by publishing the actual finance commission it’ll earn from any vehicle supplied alongside that vehicle on its website, and on quotes and order forms.

“We believe that sharing this information and being completely transparent actually works to our advantage as customers feel we have nothing to hide,” notes general manager Matt Woodward, a former Helston Garages and Mercedes South West fleet dealer veteran.

By completing nearly 1,400 transactions in 2020 it almost doubled its prior year performance, and it is forecasting almost 3,000 contracts this year, and 10,000 by 2025.

It continues to invest in its website “to make the customer journey as e-commerce and transactional as possible where they want it this way” while also employing experienced leasing consultants able to help customers who seek that human touch.

The brokerage launched in January 2019 with four staff, and now has 32. It has “disproportionally invested” in its five-strong marketing and content team to deliver all the information customers need plus engaging video reviews of some of the vehicles on offer.

It has employed a customer experience manager who ensures the Feefo Goldrated business keeps on top of its satisfaction measures and who calls customers whose business has been lost as well as won.

A four-strong pricing team monitors the market to ensure Carparison remains competitive with its offers.

Thanks to having its own storage compound, it has taken ‘commit to purchase’ opportunities with the likes of Ford, Mercedes and Tesla that might exceed 100 units at one time, allowing it to compete with much larger brokers.

Meanwhile, it offers all its funders buy-backs on unsold units if they need to de-risk, in a sign of its confidence in the business.