25 Years of Advantage Finance
Posted on 19 June, 2024
Wow, 25 years of business, with many more years to come! As we celebrate this incredible journey so far, we thought we could give you a recap on some of the key events we have endured along the way, from a starting point with 12 members of staff, to now employing over 200 members of staff, providing a huge economic boost to the area of Northeast Lincolnshire!
In July 1999…
Three founding members, with one shared goal: putting customers first while providing an opportunity to purchase and own their own motor vehicle without the aggressive sales approach. With this goal in mind, there was a clear and obvious investment choice – S&U. S&U have always offered and looked for a way to support the lesser served section of society, so when the three founding members shared the goal, the Coombs family knew they were the right people to lead them into a new area of finance for the group.
And then it begins…
After opening the doors, working from the upstairs section of an office unit in Acorn Business Park in Grimsby,12 staff, 2 fax machines and no internet, we financed our first motor vehicle. A Ford Escort – what a classic! And this was just the beginning for Advantage as we quickly set about building a successful business. Fast forwarding to December 2002 our 10,000th customer contract was written. And less than two years later, March 2004, we received our 100,000th application for motor vehicle finance.
We took the decision to develop our own technology right from the start, which resulted in impressive capabilities that gave us a real edge in terms of service, the most obvious of which was our market leading Office Automation customer management system. We also successfully completed automation of our bespoke customer scorecard in 2007.
Fast forwarding to May 2012, with HP finance offers for cars, bikes, vans and caravans we hit the 1,000,000th application received milestone, with the 100,000th customer contract being written shortly after in August 2016.
People first…
Right from the get-go, Advantage has always put people first as the glue that binds the company values. For our customers, we became notorious for the firm that offered finance solutions for humans, built by humans.
For our staff, it has always been about attracting the best local talent, recognising and rewarding them and building an internal career growth journey that has resulted in phenomenal skills retention. Over the past 25 years, we have recruited and trained over 600 staff, with 52% serving over 5 years with Advantage, 28% over 10 years and an incredible 8% over 20 years!
And if you take all these combined years of service, we have collectively been here for 1627 years!
And talking of career growth journeys, over the years 90 staff have achieved formal qualifications whilst working at the company, from Accounting to Business to Finance and even Health and Safety!
A staggering 42% of all recruitment has come from referrals from our own staff, highlighting the efforts the company puts into creating a place of work that delivers an appeal strong enough to refer friends and family to join. To this affect we can back up the sense of Advantage being a ‘family business with currently 7+ couples, 4+ siblings and 6+ parent/s and child family units all working at Advantage simultaneously.
And of course, as we have grown in staff, so has our need to house them all. Remaining in Grimsby and Acorn Business Park, we acquired the whole unit 7 building in 2007, added the purchase of unit 10 in 2017 and the purchase of unit 6 in 2020 and capping it off a couple of weeks ago with the purchase of units 8 and 9 – effectively now owning most of the entire business park!
The efforts and focus on our team, has not gone unnoticed over the years, as we achieved our first accreditation with Investors in People in 2012.
And then there was COVID…
As Advantage continued to grow, and we financed more and more customers into a set of wheels that enabled the lifestyle changes they required and deserved, we, like all businesses were hit by Covid in March 2020. As a primarily office-based organisation, the first lock down necessitated a rapid work style change, to continue serving the needs of our customers. The IT and Infrastructure teams put a disaster recovery plan in place that resulted in the setup of over 100 customer facing staff being able to work 100% remotely, supported by all the equipment and connectivity technology that each of them required. In a matter of weeks, full functionality was resumed, with many a trip to staff homes, with equipment in car boots, set ups and training involved.
In more recent times…
So here we are, the last few years, with 2022 seeing the 10,000,000th application received, and 2023 Advantage surpassing the 250,000th customer contract written milestone
In addition, in 2022 Advantage we embarked on our first long term formal charity partnership with Women’s Aid Northeast Lincolnshire (based in Grimsby), firmly getting behind the support against domestic abuse and all the trauma and complexities associated with this sad socio behavioural occurrence.
Another huge year for Advantage was 2023, with a complete brand overhaul taking place, with way more than just a logo change! After nearly 25 years of the business operating with the same logo and visual branding, it was time for a new look. With the help of our New Marketing Team, we embarked on a look, tone and feel that really represented the way in which we do business: Finance built for humans by humans.
Following on with truly embracing positive change, Advantage has incorporated AI for best customer outcomes, with our partnership with VOYC and their cutting-edge voice recording analytics technology.
Thank you.
Having said all of that, we have so many to thank for making Advantage the business success that it is today. For fear of trying to compete with an Oscar winner at the Academy awards, we have three main bodies of humans we want to mention and share our gratitude for.
Firstly, to the incredible team, both past and present, at Advantage, that have built a business and a culture to be very proud of. Always putting our customers first and insuring the very best of outcomes, the company is truly gracious in its gratitude for all that the team has achieved and continues to achieve every single day.
To our business partners, The Brokers and the automotive Dealerships, it goes without saying, that without your continued quarter of a century of support, Advantage simply would not be where we are today. A massive thank you for the continued trust you place in us with every customer you introduce to Advantage. We look forward to these mutual relationships extending for many more decades to come.
And finally, to the over a quarter of a million customers that have chosen to have their preferred set of wheels financed with Advantage, thank you for your support. We continue to be humbled in the fact that we have changed your lives somewhat and added value to your everyday lifestyle, in whatever small way it may have been. For many who have chosen to return to Advantage for their second, third and even seventh vehicle finance agreements, a special mention and a very big thank you. We commit to continually evolving and improving, and to continue offering the very best customer outcomes.
And here’s to the next 25 years…
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