10:17 am, March 17, 2025
Former Marshall Motor Group boss Daksh Gupta says he was ‘stupid’ not to see the company’s takeover coming as he opened up on the ‘most stressful period of my life’.
The dealer group was snapped up by Cinch owner Constellation Automotive Group three years ago, leading to Gupta’s abrupt departure after 14 years at the helm.
The deal meant Marshall being de-listed from the London Stock Exchange in a move which rocked the industry following years of impressive growth.
In the the period leading up to the takeover, Marshall bought and sold an incredible 224 business, including 84 acquisitions but now three years later, Gupta admits he was blindsided by the ultimate takeover.
Speaking at Car Dealer Live, the motor trade legend was candid about the impact the takeover had on him.
Sitting on stage in Gaydon, Gupta admitted he was ‘not in a good place’ when the deal went through.
‘Honestly, I think the most stressful period of my life was the Marshall takeover,’ he told host James Baggott. ‘That’s probably the one time in my life when I could say I was genuinely stressed.
‘I think part of that is that you’re not in control and you can’t influence it. That’s probably the only time when I’ve really really really felt stressed.
‘I’ll be honest, I was not in a good place at points. This thing just comes out of nowhere, you have no idea what’s going on and bizarrely I look back now and think actually I was pretty stupid.
‘We took the company public to grow it and we were the company going round buying everyone. We bought and sold 224 businesses, 84 acquisitions, a deal every 57 days.
‘You’re the guy going round buying everyone, you never think that someone’s going to buy you but the lesson there is there’s always a bigger fish.
‘When we took the company public I didn’t even think that would happen, which was pretty stupid really in hindsight now looking back.
‘You’re not in control and that’s always where people feel stressed.’
‘Just reach out to Ben’
Gupta was joined on stage at the British Motor Museum by Rachel Clift, boss Ben.
A percentage of all ticket sales from the event were donated to the motor industry charity and Clift was on hand to offer advice to anyone who might be feeling as stressed as Gupta was.
She said: ‘If you are struggling or stressed, just reach out to Ben – that’s what we’re there for to help people navigate through all sorts of challenges, no matter how big or small.
‘From a business perspective investing in the health and wellbeing of your workforce is so critically important.
‘People are not necessarily being absent from work but there’s this concept called presenteeism where people are at work and not necessarily performing at their best.
‘In Deloitte research recently, they identified that for every pound that’s spent on health and wellbeing, there’s at least £5 return for an employer so there are definitely business benefits and return on investment.
‘That total value on investment is productivity, morale, culture and the greatest returns are actually around awareness, education and the culture of your organisation but it will also have an impact on your bottom line.’
