Carwow has appointed Andrew Hooks as chief operating officer. He joins next month from Gumtree.

Hooks (pictured) brings with him over seven years’ experience in building and scaling automotive marketplace businesses, and at Carwow will take responsibility for developing the dealer proposition, reporting into co-founder and chief executive James Hind.

Having cut his teeth in banking and strategy consulting, Andrew joined eBay in 2009 from banking and strategy consulting to run eBay Motors’ European business.

Most recently, as part of the leadership team at Gumtree since 2014, he was responsible for developing Gumtree Motors.

Hooks said: “I wouldn’t have been interested in joining Carwow if the proposition was just ‘all about price’.

“Consumers value transparency, service and convenience, and it’s those qualities that differentiate Carwow’s successful dealers, as evidenced by the fact that just 25% of users choose the cheapest offer they receive.

“The business has shown a fantastic trajectory over the past three years, and I look forward to using my experience to usher in the next phase of growth.

“From my time at eBay and Gumtree I’m acutely aware of the need to balance the needs of both sides of the marketplace - buyers and sellers - and to create ‘wins’ for all parties.

“At this stage, it’s imperative that the team and I help every dealer in the country understand the opportunity that Carwow presents for their business.”