Simon Dixon, Founder, Rockar
Car buying has been around for as long as cars have been manufactured, which is over 100 years now.
Rockar is challenging that experience and bringing a new way of car-buying to the market.
We have taken the sales process to start and completely stripped that back so the customer is empowered with the knowledge of the system we developed.
When we met our relationship director, it was a breath of fresh air. They were engaged and enthusiastic about Rockar, and I felt we immediately had a larger team.
The team were there to help us, and they were as excited as us about the proposition.
You don't often see that.
We engaged with our relationship director probably 18 months before we launched. We needed to have a way of collecting payments, both online and in-store.
But our customers have to feel confident in placing an order and that money being transferred is secure, and Barclays were fantastic at that.
That call comes at an opportune moment: "Simon, everything OK with the business?" And that's important when you're striving and breaking new ground, to make sure that you've got partners sat alongside you that can assist you.
Growth to Rockar is important, and Barclays have experience in global markets, too, so we felt comfortable we were stepping in with a partner that could help us launch, but also a partner that was good for the future of the company.
They see where we're going and introduce us to people that can help us grow, so we believe they are supportive of that growth strategy.
Although Barclays has been around for a long time and it's a traditional company, the way it sets itself up and interacts with its customers, with us, is different. Innovation is at the heart of what Barclays are doing.
It's not all about borrowing money, but about how they can assist. We felt Barclays delivered on that for us.
