10:31 am, April 4, 2022
Marshall Motor Group CEO Daksh Gupta has broken his silence with a post on LinkedIn about the growth of the listed dealer since he took over.
Posting seven years to the day since Marshall Motor Group was listed on the London Stock Exchange, Gupta said ‘it’s been an amazing seven years’.
The charismatic CEO has been uncharacteristically quiet since Constellation Automotive Group agreed to take the business private in a £325m deal.
The acquisition blindsided management of the dealer group who were unaware of the sale.
Documents published after the announcement revealed that the board of directors – including Gupta – were side-swiped by the news that shocked the industry.
Constellation Automotive Group – the firm behind We Buy Any Car, BCA and Cinch – bought 64 per cent of the shares from the Marshall family.
Since the deal was announced in November last year, Gupta has not spoken to the press.
No comments have been made by Constellation or Marshall about the future leadership of the group once it goes private either.
In his post on LinkedIn, Gupta reminisces on seven years of growth which included acquisitions of SG Smith, Ridgeway and more recently Motorline.
Gupta wrote: ‘In the year prior to IPO, revenues at MMH were £1.085BN – c£300m when I took over as CEO in 2008 – and following many acquisitions, including SG Smith, Ridgeway and Motorline the Group is well on its way to £4bn.
‘Profits have followed that growth and as a result MMH has created significant shareholder value.
‘To demonstrate that, if you invested £1 at IPO you would have made a return of just under 300 per cent.
‘If anyone can let me know where I can invest and get a similar return please let me know, I’m in! (no bitcoin pitches please).’
Gupta said that what has been really important to him was the way Marshalls achieved its profit and returns.
He added: ‘We are a company with a purpose that’s committed to doing the right thing such as supporting our people through lockdown with enhanced furlough payments, transparent communication, paying thank you bonuses to all colleagues except directors and having values we believe in such as repaying furlough, repaying retail grants, paying VAT early and no director bonuses whilst receiving government support.’
Gupta was awarded the Outstanding Achievement of the Year award at the Car Dealer Used Car Awards in November for his leadership during the pandemic and pledging to pay back furlough cash claimed in 2021.
He added: ‘The best bit of the job is working with our amazing teams at Marshall.
‘Our people and culture is really special – this is best reflected in the fact we have achieved the Great Place To Work status for 12 years in a row and have been ranked in the UK’s Best Workplaces for eight years in a row.
‘The group has won countless awards, dealer group, employer, social media, website all multiple times.
‘I have also been honoured to be recognised over the years (CEO, dealer’s dealer, outstanding achievement and entrepreneur, all multiple times), always nice but to be honest I receive as a result of my great team and our amazing people.
‘Any personal award is an award for the whole team, not me. So, Happy seventh birthday MMH, it’s been an amazing seven years.’
