9:29 am, September 14, 2016
TWO members of staff at family-run dealer group Ron Brooks have retired after each completing an incredible 50 years’ service with the company.
Director Paul Stephenson and workshop controller Robert Straw are heading into retirement have given a combined 100 years of loyal service to the firm, which operates Toyota and Suzuki showrooms in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
Paul started his career by providing maternity cover as office manager in July 1966 and became a director in 1968. He said: ‘When I joined, there were only seven members of staff and we were selling Simca cars.
‘After more than 40 years of being with Toyota and now Suzuki, we have grown to almost 100 staff working out of three state-of-the-art dealerships.
‘I put that down to the way Ron Brooks treats customers – selling a car is great, but it’s the aftersales that ensures people come back year after year and we are now selling to third and fourth generations of our original customers.
‘It’s what the business was built on and it’s still true now. We’ve been very successful and we’ve worked very hard, but we’re really proud of what we’ve achieved.’
Robert, who started as a 15-year old apprentice and has been workshop controller for more than 15 years, commented: ‘The business is always changing and that’s why it’s remained interesting. We’ve had our ups and downs over the years, but we’ve always come through it by pulling together and working for each other.
‘The foundations that the company was built on remain true to this day. If somebody has an issue or a problem, we ask ourselves, ”would I be happy with that?” and if the answer is no then we fix it.’
Ron Brooks managing director Kevin Slack could not praise the two highly enough for their loyalty over the years.
He said: ‘It is a rare occasion for staff to remain with one business for this length of time but to have two is a fantastic accolade to both Paul and Robert. Both have given absolute dedication and commitment to the business.’
Our picture shows, from left to right, Paul Stephenson, Kevin Slack and Robert Straw.
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