Bristol vehicle broker Vanaways has revealed plans to double its turnover to £200m in the next two years.
The firm, which works with a large network of suppliers across the UK, has already chalked up strong growth since the Covid-19 pandemic, with turnover rising from £15m in 2020 to £109m in 2023/24. 
It has now invested in technology and artificial intelligence (AI) as well as handpicking preferred personnel from around the UK as it to targets further growth over the next 24 months.
Founders Adam Carter and Chris Jakeways, pictured, who have just celebrated the firm’s10th anniversary, believe it is “only just getting started” as they plan to make it the best-regarded vehicle broking brand in the UK.
Adam said: “We’re aiming for £200m turnover and vehicle sales in excess of 10,000 units within the next 24 months.
“But we want to do it right. We could grow quicker by spending lots with Google, driving leads and treating customers poorly. But where would that leave us?
“Instead, we’re trying to grow organically, continuing the ethos which got us where we are now. We may be turning over £100m already, but we’re only just getting started.”
Two key elements of future expansion at Vanaways, which has grown organically and remains debt-free, will be technology and retaining the right people, Adam said.
The firm employs 70 people staff at its head office in Ham Green and around the UK.
“In 2023 we went back to the drawing board with hiring,” he added. “We essentially wrote a wish list of all the best staff who we’d previously worked with and who we would like to be at the company. Then we tasked a recruitment company with going out and hiring them.
“We also took the approach that if they’re good enough, they can work from anywhere in the country.
“We’re lucky in that we don’t really need a fixed position as we work nationally. So we have staff based all across the UK.”
He also said AI was proving a powerful tool in managing customer relationships and driving efficiencies in the sales process.
“We’re investing in technology to optimise the customer experience,” he added. “Our phone system is already artificial intelligence-linked so that every word spoken is transcribed and any red flag words will alert managers in real time.
“In the future, we plan to use technology to explore how to gain new customers and ensure out staff are able to respond to their demands quicker than ever.
“What’s crucial to us is that we retain our company values – quality, personal service, trust and honesty. Without those we lose what’s made Vanaways such a success over recent years.”
Vanaways, which was listed at 60 on The Sunday Times list of the UK’s 100 fastest-growing companies last year, has forged partnerships over the past year with Veriforce CHAS, the UK’s leading provider of risk prevention, compliance and supply chain services for contractors, and Fleetmaxx Solutions, which provides fuel cards that can be used at more than 3,500 filling stations across the country.
