Having been with Carparison ltd since its inception and with a wealth of industry experience behind him, General Sales Manager Andy knows a thing or two about leasing. Now he's been tasked to head up our newly launched van leasing arm, Vanparison.
With his extensive knowledge of the automotive industry, there's no one better to be at the helm of Vanparison, navigating the business through the choppy waters of the van world.
Armed with the best pricing and sales team out there, he's finding the right solution to everyone's van needs, despite the market being a little tricky (who hasn't heard about the worldwide semi-conductor shortage).
Andy is hoping to replicate the success of Carparison with this new venture, and so we nabbed him to find out more about what he does, what he's excited for, the challenges he's faced in his career so far, and so much more.
We'll start easy - what do you do?
I head up the new Vanparison project, which is really exciting.
It's still in its infancy, so my day-to-day is dealing with inbound customers and trying to find the right van for their needs. It's all about going that extra mile and delving in to see if there's something out there that fits their business.
It is a bit like being a detective at the moment. Stock is at a premium, so it can be all about hunting around and utilising our strong network of suppliers and funders.
Having to dig for the answers is also helping me learn the marketplace, and learn the specs of the different vans. I am turning into a bit of a vanorac - they call me Vandy the Van Spotter.
Vandy the Vanorac does have a ring to it. How did you get into the motor industry?
After doing a tourism management degree many years ago, I stumbled into the rental market, working for a large car rental company. I started out in sales before moving into the fleet controller role.
We had over 500 vehicles on rent from our branch, covering Barnstaple in North Devon all the way down to Paignton and Lyme Regis. It was all about having to think logistically and work how to get cars delivered and collected, and make sure there were cars for people coming into the office.
From there a job opportunity came up in the franchise as a fleet administrator for a newly opened small contract hire business.
I was there for a few years, and it's where I learnt the ins and outs of leasing. When the general manager left, I took the job as contract hire manager and ran the business for four years, gaining a lot of knowledge on both car and van contract hire.
I was doing everything at that point. Pricing, underwriting, billing, vehicle procurement, vehicle defleeting - it was busy, but I learnt an awful lot.
When that job eventually came to an end, an opportunity arose to work as an online leasing consultant with Matt Woodward (Carparison's General Manager). I knew there was a multi-brand brokerage in the works, and I eventually ended up as one of the original five in Carparison, all the way back in January 2019.
So you've been in the motor industry for a while - what are the biggest changes you've seen?
I think the demand for leasing and finance is constantly on the rise.
It used to be that you'd go and buy a car from your local dealer, but people are now much more relaxed about making a purchase online and the switch from the showroom environment to e-commerce is one of the biggest changes I've seen.
I think there's also been a big change in what brands people are going for.
There aren't many bad brands out there - all the manufacturers have upped their game in terms of the quality of what they're producing. So instead of going straight to the prestige brands, people are reassessing their budgets and looking for a vehicle that fits their needs without worrying so much about the badge.
There's also been a big shift in the demand for electric vehicles.
What's the demand like for electric vans?
The electric van market is probably a few years behind where the electric car market now is.
Range is still a big worry for people who drive vans. As soon you load any significant weight into an electric van it does affect the range, and so unless you're city-based, I don't necessarily think the van world is quite there yet.
But it will come.
The more vans that are built to be specifically electric rather than converting an existing van, the better they'll get, especially with the improvements in battery technology.
Like with Tesla - the Model 3 was one of the best-selling cars in the UK last year. If you'd said that five years ago people wouldn't have believed you.
What are the changes you'd like to see in the industry?
I would like to see more electric vehicles.
But before we push for this, we need better public charging networks. I drive a Nissan Leaf now, and I've experienced first-hand what it's like to try and navigate the UK's public charging network.
We don't often go outside of the 'home' range of the car, but recently made a trip to Thruxton.
The Leaf needed charging on the way back, but when we got to the charging point in the services one of the chargers wasn't taking card payments, and the other was already in use. Eventually, it worked out and the rapid charger was fantastic when we got the car on it - it charged 100 miles in five minutes.
But unless you have access to the Supercharger network, there's still anxiety around pulling into a charging station.
The other thing I'd like to see is more use of sustainable resources from the manufacturers.
We've all seen the bits in the press about the planet needing help, so I think anything that the manufacturers can change will be good, especially in terms of improving efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions.
What are the biggest challenges you've faced?
Covid.
During the first lockdown, we were told that we had 48 hours, the dealers were all shutting down, and we were being sent home.
It was scary at the time.
No one knew as much as we do now about the disease, and we had cancellations from people who were re-evaluating their circumstances after being furloughed.
There were also cars we couldn't deliver because they had to be taxed and registered by the end of March to qualify for certain discounts and avoid the road tax increase in April.
On the flip side, what are some of your highlights during your time with the business?
Moving to the brand-new office.
The fact that we've got nearly 50 people now after starting with just 5 in 2019 is amazing. It's been a massive highlight to have watched the growth of the business and how much of a success it's been.
There are really great people in all our teams, everyone works well together, and there's a good collaborative working ethic - we're all working towards the same goals.
Everyone is different, but everyone brings their own style and way to do things. There's also a good level of autonomy: there are guidelines, but people are left to be who they are. We're not trying to make people into robots following scripts.
And obviously, the launch of Vanparison in April 2022 has been a big highlight.
Speaking of Vanparison - what are you most excited about?
The scope of it.
The dream and hope is for Vanparison to have its own team the size of the Carparison team. There are big van brokers who dabble in car, and big car brokers who dabble in van, but there's not really one doing both at the same level.
By setting up a completely new business - but following the mould of Carparison - we're hoping to be excellent at both.