Success story: CarTrawler

Country: Ireland
Investor: TowerBrook Capital Partners

CarTrawler, a TowerBrook portfolio company, is a B2B mobility platform for the global travel industry, based in Dublin, Ireland. The platform connects travel companies, airlines and hotels with car rental suppliers, enabling CarTrawler’s partners to build their brands by expanding their offering.

In 2021, in consultation with TowerBrook, CarTrawler implemented an inclusive employee equity scheme as a key component of its total reward proposition. The equity scheme was introduced for three reasons: (1) to drive alignment, incentivising CarTrawler’s employees to take individual responsibility in their role to increase the value of the business; (2) to share financial benefit, improving outcomes for the company’s employees across all functions; and (3) to help attract and retain talent, by creating a highly competitive remuneration offering, in a market where competition for talent is high.

Now in its second year, the company reports that the equity scheme is proving to be highly motivating. The equity offering has become a key component of CarTrawler’s employee proposition, and is believed to be a contributor to the company’s ability to attract high-quality talent. It has been credited with creating a company-wide shift in focus towards profit and value creation, and has formed an important basis for embedding a shareholder mindset across the business. The company ran a series of education seminars when the scheme launched, explaining financial performance and its drivers, and continues to provide regular updates on financial performance during company townhalls.