Sacrifice that paid off for Car Buying Group

Fast growing technology business The Car Buying Group scooped the prize at last year’s Excellence in Business Awards and the achievement left Tom Marley, founder of the business, feeling “really proud”.

He said: “I was quite emotional when I found out if I’m honest. It’s two and a half, three years of blood sweat and tears. You sacrifice a lot when you enter something like this.

“To get somebody to say ‘well done all of you involved in this, we can see how far you’ve come’ was a proud moment.”

Young businesses are even more reliant on teamwork with everyone needing to pull in the right direction. For Mr Marley winning the award was recognition for his entire team.

The entrepreneur said: “I didn’t win that award. I was a facilitator to enable the team to win that award, it’s quite simple as that. Everything we do here is about those people. I’m exceptionally proud of the team. They’ve driven us to this point so far.”

The recognition The Car Buying Group received last year didn’t go unnoticed by the close-knit Yorkshire business community either.

Being named Young Business of The Year led to the firm being contacted by other companies wanting to work with it.

Mr Marley said: “Particularly off the back off this award we had a Yorkshire-based business that rang us up and said it’s good that you’re pulling jobs into the area. We like doing business with local people. That’s amazing.

“You don’t often get people down in London saying it’s great that you’re down in London we like doing business with London people. It doesn’t work like that.”

The Car Buying Group’s inception is a “proper start-up story”, says Mr Marley.

“We started in a little store cupboard in Bradford. It literally was a store cupboard surrounded by toilet rolls and everything,” he added.

The success of young businesses has a positive impact on the wider economy.

“I’m a firm believer in bringing jobs to the local area,” says Mr Marley.

Last year the two runners-up to The Car Buying Group were Big Change Apps and Bluesmith Information Services.

BigChange Apps was incorporated around three years ago by Martin Port to help companies plan, manage, schedule and track mobile workforces and transport operations.

Meanwhile, Bluesmith is designed to meet a growing demand for ‘system integration’ of massive corporate databases – the so-called ‘Big Data’ problem.

Yorkshire is home to many exciting young start-ups and The Yorkshire Post is calling on all of those exciting businesses to enter this year’s Young Business of the Year award.

If you think you’re the next Car Buying Group or believe someone deserves to be on that stage this year, nominate them here: http://www.jpeventsnorth.co.uk/yp/events/excellence-in-business/index.php

Award entries close on June 2 so make sure you get your submissions in before then.

The categories up for grabs

THE YORKSHIRE Post Excellence in Business Awards honour the brightest and best of the corporate world. Alongside the Young Business of the Year, there are 11 other categories.

-Companies with a turnover over £50m (Sponsor DLA Piper)

-Companies with a turnover between £10m and £50m

-Companies with a turnover up to £10m

-Commercial space (Sponsored by Doncaster Sheffield Airport)

-Entrepreneur (Sponsored by Leeds Beckett)

-Community

-Outstanding employer of the year

-Diversity

-Technology

-Leadership

-Apprenticeship