7:43 am, April 27, 2023
Sytner UK boss Darren Edwards has been named one of the country’s Outstanding Leaders by Autocar.
The boss of the second most profitable car dealer group, according to the Car Dealer Top 100, was handed the title this week in a ceremony that honoured leading motor industry professionals.
Autocar said Edwards – who has led Sytner for nine years after starting with the firm in 2004 – generated revenue of £6.8bn in 2022 from its 150 franchises.
Mark Tisshaw, editor of Autocar, told Car Dealer: ‘Darren has demonstrated exceptional leadership in his stellar career to date.
‘He has helped Sytner grow not only in its volume of dealerships but in sales and revenues, setting standards at the same time that the rest of the automotive retail industry knows it must follow.
‘He has been a keen promoter of developing talent and enables staff to train, develop and grow within Sytner. As a result, its staff turnover rate is half the industry average, and happy staff allows for happy customers.
‘Our judges were also impressed with how Darren has overhauled the customer journey at Sytner, successfully giving customers an airline-style business class experience.
‘Finally, he was an early pioneer in online sales and has long been an innovator in automotive retail, using technology to offer an ever-better customer experience.’
In the 2022 Car Dealer Top 100 list, which focused on 2021’s results, Sytner notched up EBITDA profits of £246m on turnover of £5.7bn.
In an interview, published in the latest issue of Autocar, Edwards explains how he rose to the top 10 years after joining the car dealer giant.
‘This industry is a meritocracy,’ he said.
‘If you have some aftersales experience and some sales experience, and then you start managing people, it helps to understand what the pressure points are because you’ve experienced them yourself.
‘Then you start to see where the opportunities are and how to make life easier for people in those roles.
‘As long as you’ve got enough ambition to match the ability and vice versa, then automotive is a great industry. It’s been a good journey, that’s for sure.’
Edwards’ Sytner Group has a turnover of staff of just 14-15 per cent – a figure that Autocar says is usually ‘typically double that in retail’.
In the interview, he also says ‘it has yet to be seen’ whether agency sales are a good or bad thing.
Autocar explains Edwards ‘speaks warmly’ of the agency sales idea in general, saying it creates a ‘more transparent and seamless experience’. And he praises Mercedes for how the manufacturer – which switched to agency sales in January – has handled its dealers.
Other notable car industry leaders receiving awards at the Autocar event included Ford of Britain boss Lisa Brankin and Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös who were also named Outstanding Leaders.
The full interview is out now in a bumper edition of Autocar.
