12:46 pm, July 14, 2026
Strong relationships, quick decisions and competitive products remain the hallmarks of the best prime finance providers.
Dealers praised two companies for their service this year.
Congratulations to Motonovo and Black Horse, our highly commended businesses.
But retaining the title is a lender that’s built a reputation as one of the industry’s most trusted partners – Close Brothers Motor Finance.
The win this year takes the firm’s tally to eight – something that is not lost on John Cassidy, the company’s managing director – sales.
‘It’s the one award that you genuinely hope you win as it’s voted for by dealers and partners.
‘To win it eight times… we were shocked last year. If we could be even more shocked this year, I think that’s where we’ll be.
‘The teams will be absolutely delighted when they get to hear about this award.
‘It’s a massive thank you from us to all our partners who voted for us.’
The key to success? Treating dealers as genuine partners rather than simply customers, believes Cassidy.
‘I’d hope to think that we come at it from a genuine partnership approach,’ he said.
‘We’re a very long-established independent finance company now – we’re approaching 40 years.
‘We’ve got some brilliant people out there, we work with some brilliant partners and we try to align to what our partners want, short, medium and long term, what their aspirations are.
‘We try to position ourselves as a trusted partner for them.’
While acknowledging the strength of competition in the finance sector, Cassidy said understanding individual dealer businesses remained the key differentiator.
‘There’s many finance companies out there. They all do a brilliant job,’ he said.
‘Getting to understand the needs of a partner is maybe the piece that we really doubled down on, and what we will continue to double down on for the next 40 years hopefully.’
The past year has been one of the most challenging periods the motor finance sector has faced, with the industry continuing to deal with the fallout from the ongoing commission investigations and FCA scrutiny.
Cassidy said Close Brothers had worked hard to ensure those issues did not distract from supporting dealers on a day-to-day basis.
‘I think for the whole industry it’s been incredibly challenging,’ he said.
‘We’re not through it all yet, but we’re getting there.
‘It’s been frustrating, but what we’ve certainly done is try to separate the two things.’
Cassidy said maintaining close relationships with dealers had become even more important as the automotive sector continues to evolve.
‘In a world that’s currently going through a huge amount of change, actually getting to understand the needs of a partner and trying to deliver those through a partnership that works for both parties is vital,’ he said.
‘The consumer’s changing the way they go to market and actually having those conversations, thinking about that and positioning finance that helps the dealer in that way is something we’re incredibly passionate about.
‘We can’t control what others do. We can control what we do and we can control how we approach partnerships.
‘I hope that’s the reason dealers recognise us in the way that they do.’
Thanking retailers for their continued support, Cassidy added: ‘Thanks again to all our partners.’
