Best pals at former Towneley High School in Burnley celebrate turning over first million in their own company Wave Motor Group

Sheldon Slater and Callum Ferguson launched Wave Car Finance in 2022, followed a year later by Wave Motor Group, and business is booming.

In January last year they sold five cars but in the same month this year that figure rose to 21 and they are gearing up for a bright and successful future.

The duo have been best friends since they met at the former Townley High School in Burnley. Both keen and ambitious from an early age Sheldon (27) started working at the age of 12, washing cars for friends and neighbours. He then worked on a milk round and at McDonald’s while attending college to study for his A’levels. Sheldon went on to work for a company selling broadband to customers before moving into the car trade where he gained valuable sales experience for a number of different companies. Callum followed the same path and launched his own business at 17, which sadly folded. But, undeterred he found work in the motor trade.

The pair teamed up in August, 2020 and bought their first car for £600 which they later sold for over £900 and from there on there was no stopping the duo. Their company, based in Whalley, which turned over £1.4M in its first year of Wave Car Finance, invites customers to choose a vehicle they want and Sheldon and Callum will source it for them and also provide a competitive finance package for the customer

Sheldon said: “Instead of having a showroom where people come and look at cars they tell us what they want and we find it for them. We make sure the car is prepped to as close a new condition as possible.

“The customer even receives a bottle of champagne and a bouquet of flowers and sees their new car for the first time when we invite them to remove the ‘reveal’ sheet.”

Sheldon added: “Launching our own business was a gamble for us as we were both comfortable, earning good salaries. We have made a lot of sacrifices to get where we are and we have put in hundreds of hours to get the business to where it is today but it is worth it.”