9:58 am, July 17, 2024
Dealer group Lookers has appointed former Inchcape boss James Brearley as its new managing director as the firm looks to move past recent upheaval.
Brearley takes over from former CEO Mark Raban, who quit at the end of last year, amidst major cuts by new owner Global Auto Holdings.
He joins less than two months after chief operating officer Duncan McPhee also stepped down from Lookers following changes to the board.
Brearley was officially appointed at the Car Dealer Top 100 outfit earlier this month and joins from rival dealer group Peter Vardy, where he had been COO since June 2023.
Confirming his new appointment, the 58-year-old told Car Dealer: ‘I am delighted to have joined Lookers. The scale and breadth of the business gives us significant opportunities and the quality of the team I have met so far is highly motivational.
‘I look forward to doing my best to add value going forward.’
Lookers will be hoping that Brearley’s appointment will bring some much-needed stability after a tumultuous period, following Global’s takeover last year.
After Raban stepped down, Lookers announced hundreds of redundancies, with staff claiming they had been treated ‘disgracefully’.
That was followed by cuts to business managers and sales teams, just weeks before Christmas, with festive parties then cancelled.
Lookers’ sticky spell…
- Car dealer group Lookers’ shares delisted as it leaves stock market today
- CEO Mark Raban ‘stepping down’ at end of the year from car dealer Lookers
- Car dealer Lookers set for hundreds of redundancies as staff slam ‘disgraceful’ treatment
- More redundancies looming at Lookers as business managers and sales teams now face cuts
- Car dealer Charles Hurst announces 100 job losses as brutal cuts continue at parent company Lookers
- Now Christmas parties are ‘cancelled’ as car dealer Lookers axes even more staff
- Could Lookers acquisition fall foul of Takeover Panel rules after wave of redundancies?
- Lookers staff at threat of redundancy claim car dealer group is ‘cutting corners’
- Now Lookers ‘asks staff to work weekends and longer hours due to staff shortages’
- Sources say Lookers owners are fishing for fresh funds to refinance buy-out deal
- Lookers chief operating officer Duncan McPhee quitting firm after three years in top role
Before taking up his post at Peter Vardy, Brearley spent five years at CEO of Inchcape. While at the company he successfully implemented a new five-year plan to overhaul the firm’s operating structure, including digitalising the customer experience and making the most of the used car sector.
However, the period was not without its controversy, with a High Court judge describing him as ‘dishonest’ during a failed legal failed legal claim in October 2021. The full story appeared in The Times.
Prior to working at Inchcape, Brearley, served as managing director of the Pendragon-owned Stratstone division.
