Macclesfield-based Car Loans 4U goes for a rebrand

Car Loan 4U is kicking off a £15m rebrand campaign today to relaunch as Zuto.

The Macclesfield-based company recently took occupancy of space in the centre of Manchester – the fourth floor of of the Acresfield building in St Anns Square – with the view to increase their footprint further in the building within the coming months.

Chief executive James Wilkinson says move is a direct result of continued growth that has seen 100% year-on-year progression for the company over the last four years.

Car Loan 4U’s new office is in addition to its 12,000sq ft plus at Winterton House on Lyme Green Business Park in Macclesfield, where the firm already employs more than 250 people.

The new base will allow Car Loan 4U to create another 50 jobs in 2015.

The rebrand, backed up by its new website www.zuto.com , follows an £8m investment from Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) and the appointments of Katy Lomax as marketing director and Martin Jones as chief technical officer.

Lomax joins from Plusnet, where she was responsible for building a brand and marketing strategy from scratch and in the last financial year she saw revenues increase by almost 25%.

Jones came from lastminute.com, and prior to that Auto Trader, where he helped the transition from print to online.

Chief executive James Wilkinson said: “Both are both insanely passionate about what we are trying to achieve and we’re thrilled to welcome them to the team.

“Martin’s extensive understanding of mobile and digital technologies will be a strong asset to Car Loan 4U and underpins our ambition to expand our platform for growth.

“Katy joins us with extensive experience in consumer marketing and will and will oversee the company’s presence both online and offline, to establish Car Loan 4U as a mainstream brand in the UK.

“Both Katy and Martin are dedicated to building a world-class team that delivers an exceptional and innovative customer experience. I am very much looking forward to working with them both.”

On the move into Acresfield, he said: “We’re very excited about moving into Acresfield. The facilities in the building are excellent and for us to grown in-line with our ambitions, we need a first class working environment that, alongside a great benefits package, will enable us to continue building a world class team.

“Marketing, tech and Product teams will be moving to Manchester and along with the fit-out in Acresfield we are also planning to overhaul our existing facilities in Macclesfield and grow our sales and operations teams by 25 per cent this year.”