Close Brothers Motor Finance – Finance Provider of the Year (Prime) 2023

6:48 pm, June 28, 2023

A good deal on finance is always crucial and can make all the difference when it comes to striking a deal.

Customers have the right to expect good rates and great service and our winner this year certainly ticks those boxes.

Close Brothers has always been a true partner for its dealers and the praise it receives shows just how much difference they make when it comes to bagging a sale.

The FTSE250 company employs more than 3,700 people and has a strong focus on providing straightforward products and services; maintaining a prudent approach and strong financial position and building lasting relationships.

The firm has certainly managed to do that this year and scooped our prize for an astonishing fifth year in a row.

We caught up with managing director Sean Kemple to discuss the latest award.

‘It doesn’t get old, no,’ he told Car Dealer.

‘When we heard that we were the winners, I think it’s just an even better feeling each time. It’s incredibly humbling to win something once, twice, three times before and five is just amazing.

‘It’s a good reflection of the work that the team does for our dealer partners.

‘It will mean a huge amount to the team when they hear that we’ve won it.

‘We do win other awards across the year and across the season, but this one’s particularly special for us, because it’s voted for by dealers.

‘It’s not a judging panel. It’s voted for by car dealers, who are either working with us – or I presume some that are not working with us – and that makes it even more special.

‘It’s a recognition of what a team does on a daily basis.’

Having previously won this award on the last four occasions, it would have been easy for Close Brothers Motor Finance to take its eye off the ball this year and rest on its laurels.

However, that is just not the way things are done at the firm and the last 12 months has seen a drive to make fresh partnerships and offer improved services to dealer partners.

The firm has also successfully negotiated the cost-of-living crisis, which has caused a tightening of belts across the board.

Reflecting on the past year, Kemple said: ‘It’s been a very, very busy year for us.

‘We’ve been continuing to develop our consumer proposition, our dealer proposition and we’re working with more wider partners now.

‘We brought in a few new partners to work with that allows us to reach more consumers on behalf of our dealers so that’s a real key piece for us and it shows that evolution.

‘Of course, there has been a significant change in the market environment particularly when it comes to cost-of-living, inflation, interest rates, etc so that has been a tough piece to work through with our dealer partners and with our customers as well.’