Quality staff who are customer friendly
Nov 7 2006 Anastasia Weiner, Evening Gazette
Top 200 ranking - 123
Name: Sherwoods (Darlington)
Sector - New and used Vauxhall
Headquarters - Darlington
No of employees - 115
Turnover - £44,755,902
Turnover (previous) - £43,977,538
SHERWOODS, the Darlington-based motor dealership, is something of an exception in the vehicle sales sector.
In an age where the majority of dealerships are either part of a larger group or owned by private equity firms, Sherwoods is family owned and managed.
Neither does it have a string of franchises to its name. Its loyalty rests firmly with Vauxhall, although Chevrolet, another member of the GM family, has recently been added.
Ask Alasdair MacConachie, Sherwood's managing director, what the essential ingredients to the company's success are and he is unambiguous in his reply.
"Customer friendly service and employing quality people.
"Your focus is on giving the customer a good experience so that they'll come back. And generally speaking a lot of ours do."
Sherwoods was originally founded in 1928 by the Sherwood family.
However, the MacConachie dynasty didn't begin until Alasdair was invited by a former colleague who had bought the firm to run the truck business some 25 years ago.
When the owner wanted to move on, Mr MacConachie took over the firm, becoming MD in 1982 - and the rest they say is history.
But although Sherwoods hasn't embarked on an aggressive acquisition strategy unlike some of its rivals, its organic growth is impressive.
Turnover has risen from £7m to £40m, and the number of employees from 35 to 130.
In 2005, it invested £75,000 in opening a new Chevrolet franchise at the Darlington site becoming the third only dealer in the North-east to work with the US manufacturer.
Earlier this year £100,000 was spent refurbishing Sherwood's Northallerton Vauxhall dealership - and there are plans to introduce Chevrolet to the North Yorkshire site.
"We now sell as many cars in a day than we did in a year when I first took over," Mr MacConachie states proudly.
"But we are three businesses - parts, service and sales, each of which are led by very strong managers."
Investing in his workforce is something very close to Mr MacConachie's heart.
The business has close ties with Darlington College and GM's own training academy.
Last year, Vauxhall selected Sherwoods to launch a new UK wide training scheme.
Those local ties extend to other parts of the Darlington community, and Sherwoods acts as a vehicle for Mr MacConachie's numerous charitable works.
The former military man is a keen Rotarian, chairman of St Teresa's Hospice, and chairs Darlington's Local Strategic Partnership.
That philanthropic theme extends to environmental issues.
In September, Sherwoods Chevrolet, which is managed by Alasdair's son Simon MacConachie, became the first "carbon neutral" dealership in the UK by signing up with Tree Appeal.
"We have always aimed to be a green business," explains Mr MacConachie.
But Sherwood's MD is under no illusion about the sector despite his experience.
"It is one of the most competitive sectors," he says.
"And there are a lot of factors making it even more difficult to trade, in particular the influence of the big Japanese manufacturers.
"Motor sales is capital and cash intensive. If you get it wrong you will haemorage very quickly.
"Having said that, we are having one of our best years ever."
But it's successfully managing the effects of change that can present the greatest challenge, or so says Mr MacConachie.
"Change and process management is vital for a business to remain effective," he adds.
It's this belief that has led Mr MacConachie to not only surround himself with "brilliant people" inside the organisation, but to solicit outside help in the form of a non-executive chairman Alf Royale.
"Every company should have non-executive directors," he says.
"The benefits of weighty experience or having an alternative point of view shouldn't be exclusive to plcs."
Although now nearing his 60s, Mr MacConachie isn't quite ready to hand over control.
He admits that son Simon is being prepared for the top job, but that he "loves" what he does too much to give it up yet.
"Bags of enthusiasm is what this job is about, and I love what I do," he quips.
One thing is for certain though.
"This company will never be sold out," says a defiant Mr MacConachie.
