Zuto chief has foot on gas with £1bn target

ZUTO, the fast-growing online car loans broker, is aiming to become a £1bn revenue business.

That is according to chief executive and co-founder James Wilkinson, who says he is on a mission to change the way consumers buy used cars by arming them with knowledge and by providing “exceptional” customer service.

Founded by Wilkinson, 33, and Ryan Dignan, 30, in 2006, Zuto was known as CarLoan 4U until its rebrand this year.

The business, which is backed by VC firm Scottish Equity Partners, has grown 100% year-on-year for the last four years, and revenues have hit £20m in the year to the end of February.

Employee numbers have rocketed too, and Zuto now has more than 300 employees across its two bases in Macclesfield and Manchester city centre.

Growth is so strong that Wilkinson says he’s in talks to take another floor of office space at Acresfield, just off St Anne’s Square in Manchester.

He said: “If we execute our vision and continue delivering for the customer, we are going to build something really big and something really special. All the fundamentals are in place for this – there is a huge opportunity in the market place.

“Our aim is to take the stress out of buying a used car by educating buyers so that they can take charge of what is one of the biggest purchases they may  make and make Zuto into a household name.”

As one of the flag-bearers for Manchester and the North West’s technology scene – Wilkinson, the son of a Cheshire farmer, says his ambition and thinking has been inspired by a trip to San Francisco – the home of global tech.

“We went a year ago, and visited the likes of Uber and Airbnb, and it really changed our appoach and confirmed that as we grow we can’t do everything and that empowering our people is the key.”

As such, at Zuto, there are not teams, but “squads” who have “vision” and “missions” to solve.

Wilkinson and Dignan met while working for a now defunct classified advertising business in Manchester, and the seeds of their venture were planted after a lunch-time discussion en route to the chip shop.

“We both shared a passion to provide an amazing customer experience, so we started out by borrowing £70k on our credit cards.”

After growing fast in Macclesfield, the move to the city centre was driven by the need to attract the best talent in the technology sector.

Zuto, which makes its revenues by steering its website users towards taking a loan from one of its panel of 20 finance providers, is firmly fixed on growing on the top-line for the short-term.

Wilkinson said: “We are profitable, but we are about revenue growth and market share at the moment, there is a huge opportunity for us to get to close to £1bn.”

He said there would be further fund-raising to help drive growth, but was coy on timing. He praised incumbent investor Scottish Equity Partners for its “long term strategy”.

“They share our vision, we are a long-term play for them, if you have an investor that wants out in three or four years, it makes life a bit more difficult.”