How Big Motoring World made added value services count with AutoProtect

Big Motoring World’s success story is one of those motor trade classics. In 1986, Peter Waddell, still the CEO today, took his first step into car sales, trading cars from his home, before buying his first premises, the 20-car Teynham Trade Centre near Sittingbourne in Kent.

Building upon the business’ initial site, self-funded growth saw it evolve into what today is Big Motoring World. The retailer operates from five locations, employs over 650 members of staff and has more than 3,500 vehicles in group stock.

An award-winning early adopter of digital sales channels, the business’ no-haggle fixed-cost sales approach and rigorous focus on the quality of cars and service has earned the firm an ‘Excellent’ Trustpilot rating.

Anton Khan invests

In October 2021, as part of plans to expand across the UK, Big Motoring World acquired Peterborough-based used car group SW Car Supermarket. As part of the deal, SW Car Supermarket’s founder Anton Khan joined Big Motoring World’s executive leadership team as an investor and Chief Operating Officer for the group. 

Anton is very much a hands-on leader, and that includes F&I, which he sees as a critical part of the business model. Within this, added value services are “pivotal”, as is the support of AutoProtect Group in providing GAP and Smart insurance products, and compliance support.

“Our customer proposition is very straightforward,” explains Anton. “We price our vehicles to sell quickly, and we deliver a world-class service. Underpinning this is an obsession with the quality of cars, products and customer experience.

“When it comes to F&I, a similarly meticulous assessment of suppliers’ products, customer service support and, crucially, how they support and collaborate with us is also in place.”

F&I ‘essential’

“F&I is an essential part of our business model as a service and profit centre. Within this, AutoProtect Group is not only a key partner for their GAP and Smart products, but their iComply compliance service is also critical to ensuring our team lives the spirit and letter of financial regulation.”

The retailer does not operate with traditional business managers, says Anton. “Instead, we prefer to employ administration and compliance consultants alongside our salespeople, guiding the customer journey. The beauty of our no-haggle approach is that ‘negotiating the deal’ is simply not part of the experience.”

GAP and Smart products are promoted positively at the point of purchase, with the approach tailored to each customer. “The ‘demands and needs’ compliance requirements are a great support tool to take any friction out of the process. Our GAP and RTI performance has always been strong, and Smart is now mirroring this, proving particularly valuable for PCP transactions.

“The net result is a very encouraging performance from both products, and very high review marks from our customers. Like our cars, we aim to make added-value services straightforward. It is easy to summarise the output of what we do in added value sales; this doesn’t outline the hard work behind the scenes to create a consistent experience.”