Silverstone Leasing stalwart and charity champion Ryan Bishop is celebrating his 10th anniversary at the thriving vehicle leasing firm.
Ryan was hired as a sales executive at Silverstone Leasing in February 2016, without an interview and with no previous experience in sales.
He met managing director Scott Norville at an event and was keen to learn and willing to graft, quickly making his mark – working his way up to sales manager before later becoming team leader.
During Ryan’s tenure, the company has moved offices from Brackmills to its current headquarters at Preston Deanery, increased sales fivefold, gained more funders and grown from just five people to a team of 13.
Ryan said: “When I first started, units-wise, we were probably only selling a few 100 units a year. Now we’re doing over 1,000. There’s been a lot of ups and downs and we’ve had a lot of fun along the way, but my highlights are being named Salesperson of the Year numerous times, being given the responsibility of looking after the sales team, which was huge, and the success of Silverstone Soccer.”
Silverstone Soccer was Ryan’s brainchild just before the pandemic struck in 2020. The popular football fundraiser is now in its seventh year of collecting much-needed funds for local charities and Ryan has been amazed by the support the challenge receives.
Before that he also spearheaded a singing campaign for much-loved palliative care provider Cynthia Spencer Hospice called #SingForCynthia, which went viral across Northamptonshire on social media.
His charity exploits and community focus means Ryan has long been a well-known and well-respected member of the Northamptonshire business community, where he has also grown as a person in the last 10 years.
Ryan admits in the early days he struggled with public speaking and pitching to new contacts and his confidence has improved under Scott’s wing.
He said: “A lot of how I’ve grown as a person and how I’ve opened up to opportunity over the last 10 years is down to Scott. A lot of the indirect coaching he’s done over the years has built me up to how I am now, what I do, and how confident I am, not just inside of work but outside of work as well.
“There’s been times where we’ve disagreed on things. But that’s what I like about being here – if we don’t agree with someone on how we think something should be done, then we try both. We set the sails and push the ship in whichever direction we want and everybody feels part of it.”
The team spirit is palpable at Silverstone Leasing and Ryan is the company’s biggest cheerleader.
“Scott once said, if he cut me in half, then I would bleed Silverstone, and I believe it! What we do and how we’re doing as a business affects the way I think. I take it all to heart, and I always want to make sure that the business is doing well and taking that next step.
“We’ve got big numbers that we want to hit this year, and I believe we can do it, especially with the team that we’ve got at the moment. I hope that we keep growing as a business, and I’d love to take on more responsibility within that too.”
Scott Norville, managing director of Silverstone Leasing, said: “Ryan is an integral part of Silverstone Leasing. He wholly represents what our business stands for and is as passionate as I am about our future. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work alongside Ryan for the last decade and I hope there will be many more decades on this journey together.”
To find out more, visit the Silverstone Leasing website.
