7:07 am, July 7, 2023
Pendragon chief operating officer Martin Casha has stepped down from his role with the listed car dealer to take on the position of CEO at Marshall Motor Group.
Just a week after 40 per cent of the Pendragon shareholders voted against his reappointment to the board, Casha announced he is leaving the role in an update to the Stock Market this morning.
He is the second senior Pendragon executive to quit the business in the past week. He will remain in his role until November 7.
Chairman Ian Filby quit before the group’s AGM, saying he was planning to ‘pursue other interests’.
Casha was only just re-elected at the dealer group’s AGM on June 30 with 59.86 per cent of votes.
The 63-year-old has spent his entire career working for Pendragon and was appointed operations director in 1995.
He stepped up to the chief operating officer role in 2001 and has held that position ever since.
The Pendragon board thanked him for his 42 years of service at Pendragon.
The firm said it would not be replacing him and his ‘reporting lines’ would be distributed among other directors.
Bill Berman, chief executive officer, said: ‘On behalf of the board and all our associates, I would like to thank Martin for his contribution to Pendragon.
‘He has been instrumental to the growth of the business and more recently, he has played an important role in implementing our strategy to transform automotive retail through digital innovation and operational excellence. We wish him all the best for his future endeavours.’
Casha added: ‘I have been very fortunate to have enjoyed a fantastic career at Pendragon.
‘It has been a privilege to be part of a first-class organisation and I would like to thank the team that I have had the pleasure of working with. I wish them every success for the future.’
The Marshall CEO role has remained vacant for 14 months since Daksh Gupta stepped down in May 2022 after the takeover by Constellation.
It is understood James Brearley had been lined up for the Marshall CEO job, but terms could not be agreed. He recently joined Peter Vardy as operations director.
Marshall Motor Group owner Constellation Automotive Group has been contacted for comment.
Constellation bought Marshall in a £325m deal last year. Earlier this week, it was announced the group had sold all its Toyota and Lexus businesses to a variety of groups including Steven Eagell.
