Released on: October 09, 2010, 5:29 am
Author:
ACF Car Finance
Industry: Automotive
Independent Chester-based finance group, The Funding Corporation (TFC), closed its doors for 24 hours for the very first time yesterday to unveil its new company Vision and Values.
The group, which encompasses sub-prime motor dealer ACF Car Finance Limited, specialist car finance providers, The Funding Corporation Limited and Cygnet Financial Services Limited, and debt collection agency Red2Black Collections Limited, closed its doors on 4 October to unveil its new company Vision and Values to all employees. This was the first time all 250 employees from across the group had come together in the ten year history of the firm, an event which joined staff from throughout the UK at Chester Racecourse.
With TFC prepared to make this huge investment in its employee relationships, the organisation has demonstrated a pioneering approach for the industry by adapting the business to meet the desires and needs of its staff.
The new company Vision comes after consulting with staff at all levels, and across all departments, to better understand the working culture and values that they would like to see the firm built on. ‘Remarkable people delivering exceptional experiences to all our customers’ is the vision that has been created by TFC’s employees to be rolled out across the entire organisation. It is also being used to help connect employees to capitalise on the firm's recent successes and help grow the business even further over coming years.
TFC is currently one of the UK’s biggest sub-prime specialists helping people across the UK access car credit. The firm believes that this new vision, and the supporting values, will help it grow the business even further, especially as it has now streamlined its offering to focus on select core businesses: The Funding Corporation, ACF Car Finance, Red2Black Collections and Cygnet Financial Services.
Managing Director, David Challinor, who spearheaded this initiative, believes that the new Vision and Values will have a significant effect on the firm. He comments: “The business closed to allow us to bring the entire UK workforce together, here in Chester, for the first time ever, to launch our new Vision and supporting Values. This was a real ground-breaking approach for the company and provided a great opportunity for our employees to shine.”
This investment follows a recent string of successes for the Chester firm including an announcement in January that the group was able to secure over 150 jobs after renewing its banking facility for two years with corporate lender Barclays Capital, the longest ever facility agreed in the group’s history. The firm also recently announced its new SAF Approved status, a key accreditation from the Finance and Leasing Association - Motor Finance division - demonstrating the high standard of knowledge and expertise available to car finance customers.
Employees have already shown extensive signs of commitment to the company and to helping customers find the best second hand car finance deals. In fact, TFC has reported incredible statistics on the loyalty of its employees, with 50 per cent of all staff working for the firm for five years or longer. Also, with staff turnover of just 2.6 per cent (for the past 13 months to August 2010) compared to the UK average of 13.5 per cent*, David believes that satisfying the employees desires and needs, through the new Vision and Values, is key to the future success of TFC.
Teamwork and success were the themes for the day on 4 October. These themes were brought together during the day with all employees participating in one of the UK’s biggest ever Hakas, with all staff performing the traditional Maori tribal dance in the Final Furlong Marquee.
He adds: “All businesses are built on the quality of their staff and we believe that we have some of the best employees within the financial sector across the UK working for the company. Our success is testament to our staff so we wanted to shape the company to the values that they have told us mean the most to them. We also provided employees with even greater opportunity for future self-development and by taking part in one of the UK’s biggest Hakas, this was a fantastic opportunity to show the focus, commitment and achievement of our team.”
David Challinor concludes: “Our new company Vision and Values can only help to develop and grow the organisation even further and by demonstrating our commitment to our employees, we are helping to keep the financial sector moving forward within Chester commerce, giving our employees a chance to shine by developing our business into the company our employees want it to be.”
Contact Details: International House, Kingsfield Court, Chester Business Park, Chester CH4 9RF, http://www.acfcarfinance.co.uk