UK Enterprise Awards 2025

SME News UK Enterprise Awards 2025/ 100 empowering buyers to make informed decisions and ensure they pay a fair price for the vehicle they end up with. In the longer term, plans include broadening its horizons even further, providing information on other vehicle uses a buyer may be interested in, such as if it was a promotional model and used for test drives. In a world where data is essential, Vehicle Ancestry Ltd is doing its part to see that people have all of the information they need when purchasing a second-hand vehicle. With a number of new platform features currently being tested and refined, the holistic approach favoured by the company will only be doubled down on as it expands, making this beacon of trust a fitting recipient of the award for the Most Innovative Automotive Data Provider 2025. Contact: David Agnew Company: Vehicle Ancestry Ltd Web Address: https://www.vehicleancestry.co.uk/ Apr25049 Most Innovative Automotive Data Provider 2025 Because purchasing a used car can sometimes be a huge risk – even when buying from a franchised dealer or a reputable company – David Agnew created Vehicle Ancestry Ltd in 2016. In the nine years since, the business has curated a first-of-its-kind database that highlights cars previously used as everything from taxis to ex-police, fire, NHS, and highway vehicles, to name just a few. Protecting people from unknowingly purchasing service vehicles, Vehicle Ancestry is fighting for a noble cause. We caught up with David himself to find out more. Whilst UK law clearly states that motor traders should divulge what a car they are selling was previously used for, statistics such as ex-taxis and other such service vehicles being valued at almost 20% less than their private counterparts make money-driven dealers are in some cases keen to withhold this information. Thus, only a few years ago, the majority of these cars were undeclared, with buyers being forced to either take the seller at their word or carry out their own meticulous research to uncover a vehicles past. Then Vehicle Ancestry came along. Today, Vehicle Ancestry is well on its way to carrying out more than one million vehicle usage registration checks every month, meaning that the company performs more of these searches than anyone else in this space. The company’s unwavering commitment stems from David Agnew, a veteran of the automotive industry and a man who sold his first car more than 40 years ago. As David began to wind down his career as a used car retail specialist, he noticed more of these undeclared exservice vehicles on the road. Perhaps more alarmingly, many of these cars were only a few years old, meaning that consumers would have paid a very high price for them. Frustrated at this turn of events, David knew there must be a way for buyers to be able to verify the history of the vehicle they were buying ahead of time. Leveraging modern technology, David was soon able to assemble what is recognised today as the UK’s most complete and comprehensive database and a robust customer resource. Comprising more than ten million vehicle records and used to search more than 25,000 vehicles every day, Vehicle Ancestry works hard by curating data from a number of reliable sources. From local councils to police forces right across the UK, the database stores this information and cross references it with other related intelligence, delivering users with concise, relevant reports designed to provide vital insights on vehicle usage. Delivering a certificate meticulously detailing the vehicle’s history – including dates and issuing authorities if it was previously a taxi or ownership periods and the jurisdiction area for police vehicles – this service can not only be carried out one vehicle at a time, but on a larger scale for those needing to process a high volume of requests. This is achieved through an API, with the system currently able to handle as many as 1,000 requests per second – with effective scaling being utilised during periods of peak usage. Such diversity makes the Vehicle Ancestry database equally beneficial for consumers and retailers in the motor trade alike, as it helps with transparency at every stage of the process and helps to mitigate the potential of any issues arising further down the line. The system has also proven equally beneficial for finance companies, many of which hire their vehicles at a set cost exclusively for private use, only to find they have unknowingly been used as taxis for several years. As we move through the rest of 2025 and beyond, Vehicle Ancestry remains as committed as ever to compiling as much information as possible about every vehicle lining its ever-expanding database, Felicity Murphy Operations Manager leading an event we sponsored at the Motor Trader Awards ceremony

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