9:04 am, May 5, 2024
Selling some of the world’s most exclusive cars to some of the most discerning and demanding clients on the planet takes a special kind of person – and that’s Tom Hartley Junior.
He runs one of the most incredible car dealerships we’ve ever visited with a stock list that would put some car museums to shame.
Nestled on an unassuming industrial estate in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, he runs a site that’s an Aladdin’s cave of automotive memorabilia.
From pre-war classics to iconic Formula 1 cars, modern day hypercars to potent sports cars – Hartley Junior has forged a unique place in the market for his business.
In the latest episode of our Selling Supercars series – which you can watch on YouTube now or at the top of this post – he shows us around his business, talks at length about how he built the firm and opens up about the split from his dad.
‘Anything that is collectable or is deemed special in the motoring world is what I like to specialise in,’ explains Hartley Junior in the video.
‘But what makes my business really unique is we like to buy and hold in stock and bear the risk on most of our inventory.’
With an astonishing knowledge of some of the most iconic cars ever made, Hartley Junior has created a business that generates whopping profits.
In his last set of accounts, we reported he sold just 77 cars in the year but made a staggering £20.1m profit on turnover of £181m – that equates to more than £266,000 profit on each car he sells.
‘I haven’t taken on any debt so I haven’t put myself under any pressure,’ he tells us.
‘So if a car goes from £10m to £7m it just means the value of my stock goes down and as it happens I like the cars so much, and I believe in all of our cars so much, that I would probably wouldn’t take a loss I’d just hold on to it a bit longer.’
Hartley Junior also reveals in the video he didn’t speak to his dad – the Used Car Award Lifetime Achievement winner Tom Hartley – for 10 years after leaving the family firm, and still to this day they don’t speak about business.
He explains the split came as a result of his love for collectable cars – like Ferrari 250 GTOs – but he felt these didn’t fit with the cars the family firm had in stock.
‘My vision at the time was there was an opportunity in the market for somebody to go into the old collectable car world to actively trade those very special cars,’ he explains.
‘Modern supercars are still very much a part of my DNA but my passion is collectable cars.
‘It was a very big decision emotionally because I had poured my heart and soul into that business (his dad’s) and didn’t know anything other than that since I was 11 years old. I missed out on my school education for that business.
‘I was leaving what was an extremely successful business that we all did extremely well in, and to walk away from that business – I didn’t sell my shares, I walked away – I probably had more sleepless nights that I anticipated I would.’
Hartley Junior also opens up about his ambitious plans for his new supercar showroom in the heart of the Cotswolds – located just four miles down the road from the Soho Farm House.
He tells us about the new business while taking us for a ride in a recently refurbished (and sold) Ferrari Dino on the roads around his current site.
‘The showroom we are in at the moment is 9,000 square feet and the new showroom will be 57,000 square foot,’ he explains.
‘It will be based in the car capital of the UK and we’ll also have on site a 150-car state of the art storage facility, a PPF facility, photo studio – we are primed to create the absolute home where all the world’s great cars will be bought and sold.’
You can watch the full interview in the latest Selling Supercars episode at the top of this page. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos like this one coming soon.
