Car leasing firm Pike + Bambridge has secured £1m in funding to drive further growth across the UK.
The company helps businesses and individuals make the switch to electric and hybrid vehicles, and has already built up a 2,000-strong client base which includes Brodies, French Duncan, the Faculty of Advocates, Hibernian and Aberdeen football clubs, and sports stars including Ian Wright, Andy Nicol and Kumar Sangakarra.
With the first £500,000 tranche secured exclusively from clients in December, the start-up has now embarked on the second half of its target, which it expects to close in the second quarter.
The company grew revenue to £3.7m in 2022 - and is forecasting double-digit revenue growth in 2023 - while growing headcount to 16 at its Edinburgh, Aberdeen and London hubs.
Chief executive Piers Bambridge said: “With an agile and customer-focused team, we are able to offer a much more personal service than larger dealerships, and our next phase of growth will see us up headcount and continue expansion across the UK.
“We opened a London hub last summer, and that’s helped us make inroads in south east England.”
Pike + Bambridge also plans to launch a fintech platform this year which will aggregate pricing from over 26 auto manufacturers and seven banks, letting clients see live pricing while automating finance decisions.
The company hired Emma Blyth from EY last year as its new head of people - a role that will help with the onboarding of further positions this year, including head of brand and head of partnerships.
Longstanding shareholder Jack Ogston, a financial sector veteran with a long career at Clydesdale Bank, joined Pike + Bambridge’s board in August as non-executive chair and investment director.
Bambridge added: “It is clear that electric vehicles are here to stay, with autonomous technology just around the corner, so as an industry we need to do a better job of educating people around the perceived challenges, like charge points for example when we’re talking about EVs.
“There is a lot of misinformation around, we need to cut through that and present the facts in a clearer fashion.”
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