Carwow, the platform that allows consumers to buy new, used and leased cars from a network of approved dealers, has made a number of senior hires from the UK’s most successful scale-up companies.
Athena Hubble, former Commercial Director at Zoopla, has joined carwow as the company’s first UK Managing Director. Athena will have direct responsibility for carwow’s unrivalled network of partners in the UK.
Athena previously worked with Zoopla for 12-years, becoming the company’s Commercial Director as it scaled as one of the UK’s first billion-dollar tech start-ups and transformed the property industry in the process.
Like the property industry, carwow is operating in an established industry that has traditionally been offline, but is increasingly being disrupted by demand from modern consumers who start their journey online. By using the reverse marketplace model carwow users can research, build and locate the car they want, and receive offers direct from consumer rated approved dealers.
carwow has also hired Vaso Parisinou as Chief People Officer. Vaso was the 29th employee at Deliveroo, the online food delivery company, and has unparalleled experience managing culture and recruitment within periods of hyper growth. During Vaso’s time at Deliveroo, the company went from serving the local area in Shoreditch, South Kensington and Chelsea to 12 countries worldwide with a total of 2000 employees.
Vaso will be responsible for introducing new culture and recruitment practices, as well as ensuring modern benefits like smarter working continue to be a focus.
Marketing and advertising industry expert, Charlotte Tice, takes up the newly created role of Head of Media partnerships to drive awareness and reach for carwow’s digital platform.
Charlotte has over 15-years’ experience building brand awareness, having held the role of Head of Marketing & Client Service at Hearst Live and the former Head of Digital & Publishing at Mindshare, one of the world’s largest media agencies. Charlotte was the force behind Mindshare UK’s creation of the combined digital display and publishing media investment team, whilst also sitting on the Management Board.
Having created a company that has increased revenues by 147% over the last three years to more than £15m and sold more than 150,000 cars online, these hires reflect carwow’s commitment to sustainable growth and disruption within the automotive industry.
Last year, carwow was recognised by the Sunday Times as one of the fastest 20 growing tech companies in the UK and the business is now expanding its international presence with a particular focus in European markets.
James Hind, founder of carwow said, “carwow’s ambition is to become a resource and tool for motorists at whatever stage they are in the car buying process, bringing more consumer choice to the industry and making sure the journey of buying a car reflects contemporary, customer expectations. We have always focused on attracting the very best talent in the UK to accelerate our growth trajectory – these new hires will bring the unique experience of driving businesses that are expanding rapidly and transforming industries to carwow.”
Athena Hubble, UK Managing Director of carwow said,“carwow is in a similar position to Zoopla in its earlier years– with a clear mission, led by a visionary entrepreneur, building a product that is modernising an industry.
“I am hugely excited to join the company and continue building the fantastic online car buying experience that modern customers expect whilst delivering highly informed buyers direct to our dealerships, removing pain points on both sides and helping future proof the industry. I have every confidence that carwow has the potential to become one of the most successful digital businesses in the UK”
Vaso Parisinou, Chief People Officer at carwow said, “This pace of growth doesn’t come along very often in business. Very few companies have the vision, agility and passion to realise billion-dollar valuations and rapid expansion. carwow is one of those companies and I am looking forward to the opportunity of building long-term processes that will address the unique challenges a business at this stage will experience and help propel the careers of everyone that works here.”
Charlotte Tice, Head of Media Partnerships said, “carwow has a unique market proposition where innovation and a customer first approach sits at the heart of the business. This is an exciting opportunity for a scale-up company that remains truly agile to create compelling media partnerships and consolidate its brand position, ultimately driving growth and helping to realise the organisation’s ambitious mission.”