Company on the road to success

G3 Remarketing, set up by experienced motor industry professionals Matt Dale and Amanda Holtby, sells vehicles online and has quickly proved a rival to traditional car auctions which have less of a presence on the internet. It has managed to expand despite setting up during the recession, when Britain's car industry was struggling and had to be propped up by Labour's "cash for bangers" scrappage scheme.

Now G3, which is based in Castleford, aims to double turnover and increase its number of staff as well as opening another site in the south of England.

Mr Dale, a director, said: "When we set up it was a very difficult time in the motor trade. We had a difficult first few months but since the turn of the year, the business has really taken off".

G3 works with fleet firms that provide company cars, and remarkets and sells them at the end of their cycle, often after three years. Growth has been driven by investment in technology, a locally-developed IT system and the quality of staff, Mr Dale said, but he also argued that customers were turning away from "old-fashioned" routes to buying vehicles.

"More and more, the buyers and the vendors want more control over how they buy and sell these vehicles.

"They have embraced our operation in a virtual environment because they can log on and buy vehicles at any time of day. With a physical auction, you have to be a on site and attend the auction."

G3, which was established in October last year, struggled to attract support from the major banks but went on to turn a profit at the end of the first year, said Mr Dale.

"Due to the current economic climate, lenders were unwilling to support the business. Despite this, we had the belief and decided to self-finance the operation. We have strong views on the willingness of the banks to release funding to start-up operations and the commitment of quangos to support new business ventures, all of whom showed little interest despite a robust business plan and future projections."

The firm acts as an agent. When a buyer's offer is accepted through its online auction, G3 charges an administration fee which is then added to the bid.

Most of the vehicles sold by G3 go to retail outlets, such as main dealers or car supermarkets, but the firm also sells to individual motorists.

It currently has 13 staff and wants to increase this to 20 by February and then to between 30 and 35 by the end of next year as contract wins will mean it needs a greater capacity.

It has won work with a large European vehicle manufacturer – Mr Dale said they are not allowed to reveal its name – to sell their end-of-contract vehicles, as well as new business in the recovery management solutions (RMS) arm of the business, a type of software for finance and leasing organisations.

This will see two vehicle manufacturers outsource its recovery and disposal of company cars to G3.

The firm plans to open a base in the South and has looked at Milton Keynes, allowing it to reduce logistic emissions and costs, and also wants to move its headquarters to a larger site, of around five acres, in West Yorkshire, either in Castleford or Wakefield, having outgrown its existing base in Whitwood, despite the uncertainty over the car market.

"There is a shortage of quality supply in the market at the moment and we expect that to continue in 2011 because of the reduction in new car registrations. The vehicles due to be off-contract after two or three years have not materialised," said Mr Dale

Mr Dale, 34, and Ms Holtby, 36, want to take turnover to 35m to 40m, however, as there remains a huge stock of fleet cars in Britain which will eventually be sold.

Dealers around the country have said the value of used cars held up reasonably well during the recession, despite the volume of new and used vehicles sold plunging to their lowest point for a decade.

The industry has begun to recover as the general economy has picked up.

G3 sells its vehicles as seen, "with all faults and imperfections", but said it will highlight all the areas of visible damage and will pass on any information it has about mechanical defects.

Customers with anxieties have a chance to assuage these by buying warranties through G3's partners

Experience pays off

G3 Remarketing was set up by Amanda Holtby and Matthew Dale, who each own half of the business.

Mr Dale, a former quantity surveyor, previously worked for Leeds-based Premier Motor Auctions for 12 years, including four years as a director. The firm typically held around five sales per week, usually involving 2,500 vehicles. Mr Dale left in 2008, however, after it was sold to Fife-based Scottish Motor Auctions Group, which operates a number of auction sites in Scotland and the north-east of England.

The switch to G3 enabled Mr Dale to build on the contacts and the knowledge of good staff he had built up after so many years in the motor industry.

Today, G3 has more than 15,000 buyers on its database.