Driving a successful future
With a turnover of more than £32 million, 100-plus people on the payroll and a host of industry accolades and awards, Surrey-based T W White & Sons is a true driving force within the motor industry, writes Alison Dewar
Having just celebrated its 50th anniversary, the new and used car group has six locations around Surrey, South London and Kent, and was named number one in Mazda’s national league for 2014, as well as UK-wide runner up for Car Dealer magazine’s Used Car Award for customer service.
In January it achieved an industry first by unveiling sole UK rights to the new Mitsuoka Roadster sports car which is being launched this month, and managing director Neil White says he’s looking forward to a positive 2015.
“The future is very exciting for us, we plan to expand the business further through both acquisition and natural organic growth,” he said. “The UK car market is still growing and the franchises we represent are all doing well.
“To win these awards was a great achievement and comes as a result of our staff trying to go that ‘extra mile’ for our customers, who want to be assured of a quality of service and after care from their dealer.”
Just a few years ago though, it was a different story.
Not only did the car sales business suffer more than most in the economic downturn when people only replaced their used cars as a matter of necessity, but substantial redevelopment of the company’s sites at Effingham and Weybridge put a major drain on resources.
By late 2011, the company decided to merge its standalone group bodyshop and its Byfleet after-sales operation onto one site. The project, completed in 2013, saw a £1.6m investment in a 22,000 sq ft warehouse and offices; the development of a state-of-the- art 14- bay mechanical warehouse fitted with the latest diagnostic equipment; plus a new bodyshop and customer waiting area, complete with free Wi-Fi to allow customers to carry on working while they wait for their car to be serviced.
Helping support the business with funding for nearly a decade has been Barclays which, says White, “shares its vision” for the future.
“Barclays understands the motor dealer sector and the way we work,” he said. “When the industry was in trouble, they could see that, although we weren’t performing as well as we could, we were still performing ahead of the sector and they were able to look at our proposals for the business and support them.
“In 2007, when we expanded our Wholesale Parts Distribution Centre and invested £1m into a purpose-built warehouse in Leatherhead, they shared our vision and completed on the loan within eight weeks. Seven years later, this business within a business turns over £9m a year and contributes significantly to group profits.
“Since then they have provided funding for the warehouse refurbishment in Byfleet which has become the after-sales centre, allowing us to drastically cut our overheads. Because we now own the freehold, our capital repayments are lower than the previous rents on both leasehold properties and we consider this to have been one of our best investments to date.”
Last November, Barclays again proved its worth by enabling the dealership to purchase the freehold of its Orpington site, putting a deal on the table within days and, says White, being instrumental in helping win what he describes as a “contract race”.
Paul Elsey, relationship director at Barclays, said: “We have a very good relationship. They clearly understand their industry and have some very strong franchises for the vehicles they sell. They are very transparent, producing very good management information which allows us to support them and our relationship is built on agility, speed of decision and ability to provide funding.”
White believes strongly that the values of being a family business have helped to make the company so successful. T W White & Sons was founded in 1964 by his father, and Neil and his brother Ian joined in 1980, followed six years later by their sister Kirsty. Although Ian left as part of a demerger in 2007, Kirsty remains as financial director.
Evidence shows the car buying market has
Barclays is a trading name of Barclays Bank PLC and its subsidiaries. Barclays Bank PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Financial Services Register No 122702). Registered in England. Registered number is 1026167 with registered office at 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP. February 2015.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – FEBRUARY 2015
business success in association with
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Neil White
changed dramatically in recent years – both in terms of a change in brand loyalty and customers doing their “homework” in advance – but White says customer loyalty to the group has been integral in its success.
“We have literally hundreds of repeat customers and we always say that we’re not just looking for that one person to return, we’re hoping they will tell others about us too. That loyalty has to be earned and we do that by being competitive and offering a service which is second to none,” he concluded.
With latest plans to invest in the refurbishment of the Orpington site, White says he will soon be knocking on Barclays’ door again – as he takes the business in yet another new direction.
Details:
Neil White
neil@twwhiteandsons.co.uk www.twwhiteandsons.co.uk
Paul Elsey
07881-355446
paul.elsey@barclays.com www.barclays.com/corporatebanking
The views expressed in this article are the views of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Barclays Bank PLC Group nor should they be taken as statements of policy or intent of the Barclays Bank PLC Group. The Barclays Bank PLC Group takes no responsibility for the veracity of information contained in the third part guides or articles and no warranties or undertakings of any kind, whether express or implied, regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information given. The Barclays Bank PLC Group takes no liability for the impact of any decisions made based on information contained and views expressed.
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