A motor finance brokerage is building on a successful first year by moving into new offices and creating jobs.

Auto Union Finance (AUF) was founded in Warrington, Cheshire, ten years ago and opened its Worthing operation in March 2002.

It has moved to a 3,000 sq ft office in the former Nissan building and expects to recruit at least 35 additional staff by the end of the year and more during 2004.

The Sussex operation was established by the former directors and management of two companies based in the town, AFS and Shell Capital Motor Finance, both of which had withdrawn from the finance industry causing job losses.

The company decided to open in Worthing because of the wealth of experienced finance staff these withdrawals had made available.

Tony McDonagh, AUF's managing director and a former director of AFS, said: "Nissan Finance was a major employer in the town and had hundreds of people working for it.

"After its demise, companies like AFS and Shell Capital were launched to meet demand but, unfortunately, they didn't last.

"This meant there was a fantastic pool of experienced staff for us to choose from.

"Most of our recruitment has been extremely simple."

The company currently employs 19 people but expects to recruit a further 35 this year and possibly more depending on its other business plans.

Mr McDonagh said the company was set to become the largest motor finance brokerage in the UK but it will also diversify into other areas.

It is launching a factoring product, through which landlords can offload the risk of non-payment by their tenants to AUF.

Mr McDonagh said: "This is probably the most exciting development.

"Getting tenants to pay can be a big problem for landlords and we expect this product to be very popular once we launch it nationally in June."

AUF is also finalising a joint venture, which is likely to lead to further expansion in Worthing.

Mr McDonagh said he was confident the business was on a firm footing.

He said: "We've learnt by other companies' mistakes.

"When the other finance companies closed, they left a gaping hole that the motor dealers needed someone to fill - that's what we're doing.

"The banks and credit card companies have moved in to provide loans for car finance but the market is still there and we have 18 finance companies on our books to help us find funding for a wide range of customers.

"That's part of the reason we expect to keep doing well."

He said it was good to start a new company surrounded by familiar faces but AUF would not limit itself to considering candidates already known to the company.

Mr McDonagh said: "We have a list of people who want to work here and we already know a lot of the people we will recruit but I don't think we're going to be able to fill every vacancy like this so we're going to be on the look out for other talented people."

Thursday May 8 2003