INTERVIEW
‘I think it’s a tough gig actually to come into the UK and start disrupting it’ Vertu Motors chief executive Robert Forrester talks to James Baggott about its latest results, disruptors – and why he believes furlough is for keeps...
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sed car disruptors – including Cazoo and Cinch – bring ‘nothing, if anything’ new to the market, claims Vertu Motors boss Robert Forrester. In a strong rebuke of the new entrants to the used car market, Forrester said the only thing that they’ve caused the industry to do is focus more on their own businesses. In his report on the group’s financial performance for the past year – which reveals the group made a profit of £24.6m – Forrester dismissed the new entrants to the market. He wrote: ‘Disruptors who have recently entered the used car market have very little, if anything, to add to the sector in terms of customer proposition or experience, and they do not sell new cars or in some cases support customers thereafter with their servicing needs. ‘The best in class in the sector, and Vertu in particular, have a fully established bricksand-clicks platform and sell far more used vehicles than these new entrants.’ Speaking to Car Dealer Live in an exclusive interview, Forrester said the likes of Cazoo had actually helped his business. In a video interview that you can watch by clicking the links below, he said: ‘I wouldn’t say they don’t worry me. I would say they have been very, very helpful to everybody in the industry in a number of ways. ‘One, it has shot a full beam on the used car market and its potential in the United Kingdom, and for a quoted plc standpoint that is not unhelpful. ‘I think it’s a tough gig actually to come into the UK and start disrupting it. ‘Is it something we should be complacent on? No. It has forced everyone to be very clinically pure as to what they are trying to do, their capability and are they as good as they think. ‘What are [the disruptors] doing that we can’t? Very little, if anything, as it happens.’
Disruptors who have recently entered the used car market have very little to add to the sector.
Furlough In its results, Vertu revealed it received £27.8m in furlough support from the government during the financial year, which ended on February 28. In March and April this year the group received £400,000 in furlough cash. Other industries that saw stores shut by lockdowns but continued to enjoy success online have seen some firms decide to repay their furlough cash. One of the latest was Hotel Chocolat, which returned £3.1m of furlough cash after strong Easter sales. Forrester is adamant that the group will not be repaying any, though, and the discussion in the board lasted ‘45 seconds’ as to whether it should. He said: ‘The government closed down our businesses by diktat with very little warning, causing considerable disruption and dislocation and they provided financial support to offset that. ‘That was what the support was there for – to make sure we didn’t come out of it in a 06 | CarDealerMag.co.uk
VERTU MOTORS Position: 2019 turnover: 2019 EBITDA: ROS:
6th £3bn £40.7m 0.6%
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