MovoNovo motorcycle product manager Mike Chilvers rejoined Close Motor Finance on 20 May in his former job as northern regional product sales manager. Chilvers left Close at the end of last year to head up MotoNovo’s launch into the motorcycle finance market.
Announcing the surprise news, which comes only four months after MotoNovo’s entry into motorcycle finance in February, James Broadhead, managing director, welcomed Chilvers’ return to Close. “He and Julian Oliver (southern area product sales manager) are at the heart of our motorcycle division. Their knowledge and expertise of the bike market, coupled with that of our local account managers, local offices and local underwriters, all with bike knowledge, gives us a finance division with the most expertise in the country.”
Since the motorcycle division opened for business in 2000, Close and its dealers have provided funding for 785,929 motorcycle sales up to the end of March this year. Welcoming Chilvers’ return, southern area product sales manager Julian Oliver, like Chilvers an enthusiastic big mileage biker, said: “After 13 years in the industry, we can look back and see that it probably took us at least five years to truly understand the motorcycle market. The dealers and consumers requirements of this market are quite different to the wider retail finance industry and it needs a different approach to underwriting and processing. Our experience is not something that can be achieved overnight. For us, it’s not just about finance. We have a passion for bikes and like to give our dealers the opportunity to do business with people who are as enthusiastic about them as we are.”
Karl Werner, head of sales and marketing at MotoNovo, said a replacement for Chilvers will be announced shortly. “Our business plan remains unchanged, we have targeted 30 per cent of the motorcycle finance market, and we will get it,” he said. “Since launching in February, we have had discussions with over 500 dealerships and agreed support terms with 160 of them. We have also signed agreements with two manufacturers and there are more to come,” he added.