10:48 am, October 5, 2022
Vertu Motors boss Robert Forrester wants to catapult his group to become one of the top three biggest in the UK with 400 dealerships to its name.
The Vertu boss spoke to Car Dealer Live in a wide ranging interview this morning following release of the group’s first half year results.
Hinting at further acquisitions to come, he said his ambitions were to dramatically increase the size of the group from its 160 dealerships today.
Vertu posted profit of £28.2m on revenue of nearly £2bn for the first half of 2022.
The growth saw it take the fourth largest dealership group by revenue – leapfrogging Pendragon which achieved first half year revenues of £1.85bn.
In the last Car Dealer Top 100 last year, ranked by profit, not revenue, Vertu was fifth behind Arnold Clark, Sytner, Pendragon and Lookers.
However, Forrester has ambitions to get bigger.
He told Car Dealer: ‘I think it’s quite important we’re in the top three. And we might not get in the top three. But as long as we’ve got scale, then I think that’s important.
‘I need the base of dealerships to allow us to be a part of the future, whereby we can invest in training, brands, and just having more dealerships helps.’
Vertu Motors currently has 160 dealerships across the UK under the Bristol Street Motors, Vertu Motors and Macklin Motors names – but Forrester wants many more.
‘I always wanted 400,’ he explained, in the video you can watch above.
‘I set out in 2006 with 400 in my head. I suspect I will spectacularly fail, but the next step is to get to 200.’
Vertu hinted at further acquisitions to come for the group and with a strong balance sheet the firm has the funds to snap up dealerships in its bid for growth.
Forrester told Car Dealer: ‘We have a good pipeline of acquisitions. I think, you know, people are getting their mind round, do they want to be an agency? Have they had a good time? Is it going to get any better? And I think the market for acquisitions is probably coming through.
‘Manufacturers have been quite active on the pitch as well. So I think we’re quite optimistic really about all that.’
Agency Sales
Forrester also spoke at length about agency sales and why he thinks they could be a good thing for the motor trade.
He said: ‘I don’t see it as that much of a radical change. The fundamental bit for retailers is “what is the economic proposition? How much money do we get?” I mean, we are mercenary, legendary mercenaries, aren’t we.
‘What you do have is you have a handling fee. And the question is how high is the handling fee? versus how much cost are we not going to have because we’ve got no stock, no storage charges, no marketing.
‘We have to see how it is. I’m not saying that agency will be a smooth run, though. I think it puts a lot of responsibility on the manufacturers to get things right.’
You can listen to the full interview where Forrester gives his opinion on the energy crisis, how the cost of living crisis will impact car sales and why he remains optimistic in the video embedded at the top of this story.
