New Hippo hire to drive growth of used car sales

Blackburn-based Hippo Motor Group has appointed Neil Smith as performance director to help drive growth within its used car division.

The announcement comes as the company renames Hippo Prestige as Hippo Approved to broaden the range of vehicles available.

Neil will use his more than 40 years of experience within the automotive sector, including digital vehicle retailing, to boost sales and promote growth.

His recent work includes director, non-director, and advisory roles for a wealth of big brand businesses, including the established online car retailer, Cazoo.

Neil said: “I have been watching Hippo’s growth journey with interest from afar and its successes to date have been phenomenal.

“Huge investments were made in the business’ staff, technology, and state-of-the-art facilities in 2023, all of which set the business up to achieve ambitious targets in 2024.

“I have spent some time already analysing the sales and operational activity of the business to understand what we do well and what could be improved. Q1 will now see us begin to implement some of these changes into Hippo Approved.

“I’m working with an enthusiastic, ambitious team and feel confident of our successes this year and beyond.”

Hippo Approved is one of three divisions, alongside Hippo Leasing and Hippo Motor Finance.

Tom Preston, director of the group, said: “We recently rebranded Hippo Approved from Hippo Prestige to widen our range of vehicles at a range of price points to meet our customers’ needs.

“We will still be offering the high-end high-performance cars we are recognised for, but we now have a wider stock range to suit whole family needs - from the high-end to that very important first car.

“Neil is the perfect ambassador to lead this element of the business in a period of ambitious growth, not just for Hippo Approved, but for the whole group.

“We have really geared up for growth over the past two years from stock, new tech platforms, new sites and, of course, more key members to our fantastic team. I am really looking forward to what we can all achieve this year.”

Hippo currently employs more than 330 staff and sells over 11,000 cars per year.