INTERVIEW
‘It’s been a challenge, no question about it’ Wessex Garages MD Chris Wiseman is an optimist – despite having to contend with Brexit uncertainty and then the pandemic since taking over the post less than a year ago, as James Batchelor found out.
The Gloucester showroom
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hat a great year to take over as managing director!’ jokes Chris Wiseman, boss of dealer group Wessex Garages. In a year that would test the strongest of leaders, Wiseman’s dry sense of humour is not all that surprising when you discover he’s an idealist. ‘I am an optimist when it comes to my job – you have to be whenever you’re in a position of leading a business,’ he tells Car Dealer in an exclusive interview, available on our website. ‘It’s been a challenging year – there’s no doubt about that. First there were discussions around Brexit and everyone was trying to second-guess that, and then Covid hit. If nothing else, that put me on a level playing field with a lot of other experienced managing directors because no one has been through this. ‘Every day is a school day when you get something like this. It’s about learning as much as you can about the situation and about your customers and adapting your business – this has been crucial to us.’ Crucial and also rather successful. Despite coronavirus striking at the worst time and having a ‘crippling’ impact, Wiseman has steered the business to a position that would please the most negative of pessimists. Sales are strong, profitability is up and, as we speak on a hot afternoon in September, Wessex Garages has been enjoying four consecutive months of growth. ‘The bounce back was exceptionally good for us,’ he says. ‘Trading in June, July and August was ahead of last year and especially ahead of where we budgeted when we were in Covid. At the moment, it would appear we are sitting above our prior year performance. ‘I am quite pleased with that bearing in mind the losses we took during the months we were shut. That’s through the support of the government, in part, with the furlough scheme – which was phenomenal – and the business rates. This has been a godsend to us.’ So far, September is looking to be an outstandingly buoyant month for the group, with strong performances in new and used cars plus servicing. And while there are concerns around new car supply and quarter four performance, Wiseman’s optimism shines through again. ‘September, generally, has been exceptionally good so far,’ he says. ‘We are just starting to see the undertone of stock shortages in certain areas and with certain products, but we carried a lot of stock moving into this, which I was glad of for once. ‘In terms of volume and profitability we will have a better September again – the fourth consecutive month, which is great. The key is to make September as good as you can make it because we don’t know what’s going to happen in October and November. ‘I think we will get a bit of carry-over into October, but then I think we will really start to see some of the stock issues hitting.’ Four consecutive months of growth is remarkable for any large dealer group, but especially for one that has had to endure even tougher times because of the geographical topography of its network. Wessex Garages has seven sites and holds franchises for Mazda, Kia, Nissan and Renault among others, but they’re split between Wales and the south-west
