Women in Broking: Nancy Thorley

NANCY Thorley and husband Paul now live and work in their ‘happy place’ on the Isle of Wight. Nancy is managing director of Vehicle Consulting Solent and Paul is head of partnerships. So, how did Nancy end up there?

In 2005, Nancy was just starting out and underway with a maths degree, but life had other plans. A combination of young single motherhood, lack of funds and study time meant she had to park the degree. Nancy then took on various jobs to support her children, which included everything from cleaning to childminding. 

Nancy made her first foray into automotive in 2007 when she started a part time administrative role for nationwide vehicle broker Autofinder. Personal contract hire was just becoming popular and Nancy set up the leasing side of the business, which set the course for her broking career.

Then Nancy and Paul, who had been in automotive his whole career, decided to take the plunge and set up their own brokerage in 2012. Nancy took on the MD role with Paul as sales director. She explains:

‘We set up Simply Vehicle Leasing as a pure leasing business with the aim of improving the customer experience. We decided to run it as a lifestyle business which we could manage around the children. Well, that was the plan – we got a bit carried away and, before we knew it, we had 16 staff in place! It was a really successful business.’

When the couple sadly lost Paul’s dad in 2019, they decided life was too short to put off plans. They had always dreamed of relocating to the Isle of Wight with the idea of slowing down a little, so they decided to make the move. The pair continued to run the Simply business remotely until they sold it in 2020.

Then, the next opportunity came along. As part of the sale, Nancy and Paul were invited by Vehicle Consulting to become an Appointed Representative (AR) and run a franchise for the Solent region, covering the south coast as well as the Isle of Wight. Then covid happened. 

‘Whilst covid slowed the launch of the new business, it gave us time to refine our proposition. Our approach is highly consultative and we’re also incredibly passionate about helping businesses switch to electric vehicles and maximise the advantages of salary sacrifice.’

So, what are the couple’s roles in the business? 

Nancy oversees the strategy and operations and ‘makes things happen’, while Paul manages the sales and relationship side – as well as being what Nancy describes as ‘the visionary’. Nancy says that they balance each other out and work well together.

But there is not always such parity in the automotive world. Whilst Nancy says things have improved, she has definitely come up against prejudice: