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Auto Trader Interactive, the biggest classified site in Europe, has

doubled its sales force and is on the hunt for more recruits.

Peter McCullough, the motoring website’s recently appointed managing

director, is masterminding the advertising expansion.

The UK sales team has grown from 17 people three months ago to 36. The

company is now looking for ten additional field sales people to staff

its North London, Southampton, Yorkshire and Thames Valley offices.

Sales people, who report to Auto Trader’s commercial manager Paul

Shoesmith, sell direct to new and used car dealers as well as insurance

and financial companies. Two dedicated staff on the team sell to the top

100 dealer groups such as Curry Motors.

In addition, Shoesmith will be looking for a small team to sell its

sister classified product Bike Trader when it goes online as part of the

Auto Trader Interactive system in the new year. Auto Trader Interactive

has 1,000 dealer websites on the system and recorded 8.5 million page

impressions in July.

’We’ve got the biggest classified website and the page impressions we

need. Now we need to sell the packages that advertisers want,’ said

Shoesmith.

’The great myth is that our sales people need to be internet-literate,

we just want people who can sell.’

McCullough, ex-senior manager of the software company Kalamazoo, is also

working with Auto Trader’s European development director Lee Williams to

extend the brand across Europe. They will launch Auto Trader Interactive

in Germany next month. It is already the market leader in Italy, France,

Belgium, Holland, Norway as well as South Africa and Australia but is

keen to build local sales teams in new markets.