Robert Forrester, Chief Executive, Vertu Motors

Nov 9 2009 By Peter McCusker, The Journal

The boss of one of the region’s fastest growing PLCs is so intent on providing good customer service he still deals with all the complaints personally. Peter McCusker meets Vertu chief executive Robert Forrester.

ALL customer complaints from the 56 dealerships in Newcastle-based motor retailer Vertu’s national chain arrive in the email inbox of its chief executive Robert Forrester.

Forrester recounts sitting at home in Gosforth in Newcastle on a Sunday night as his Blackberry goes off with a complaint about service from one of his showrooms, and he immediately responds by calling the customer to get to the bottom of the problem.

He reckons he gets up to four complaints every day and handles each one personally.

Vertu publishes weekly, quarterly and annual complaint league tables and the chief executive says this emphasis on customer service is now paying dividends.

"I like to deal with customer feedback individually. On our website we have sections for good and bad feedback and when we get good feedback I will write to the colleague to thank them.

"If I get negative feedback I will phone or write to the customer and hopefully sort it out quickly. A copy will also be sent to the general manager and the divisional director.

"That is why our staff do not like complaints. We are trying to build a culture where we do not get complaints and we are seeing progress with the levels coming down in the last six months.

"Complaint levels are published in the league tables. Our dealerships want to make sure they are not at the top!"

Forrester says last week he saw an after-sales consumer satisfaction report from car manufacturer Citroen which showed that Vertu’s Nottingham dealership had achieved a 100% rating.

"That is quite a staggering performance. All our dealerships are now on an upward trend," he enthuses.

Vertu, which is headquartered on Newcastle’s Quayside, is now the ninth largest car dealership in the UK and has grown rapidly since floating on the stock market in October 2006.

It now has 50 franchised dealerships across the UK under the Bristol Street Motors brand name and four Bristol Street Motor Nation used car outlets.

It sells around 70,000 cars a year, has annual sales of £800m and recently secured an additional £30m with a rights issue. It is on the lookout for further purchases as, and when, they become available.

Forrester is setting no limits on how big Vertu can go and he has learned to think big after he was tutored by Sunderland motor tycoon Sir Peter Vardy who grew Reg Vardy in Sunderland into a national chain before selling it for £506m in 2006.

He has a clear perception of why, in such a competitive and low-margin business, he can turn Vertu into the best.

"It’s all about our people. It’s about employing, motivating, training and rewarding the best people and they will deliver the best they can for the company. Our business is all about people," he says.

"Our goal is to be the best within the industry and we are focussed for growth. Our aim is to do the job the right way. We want to recruit the best people in the industry and deliver great levels of customer satisfaction. You cannot build a good business without the right people."

Forrester was born in Blackburn, although he is a supporter of nearby Burnley Football Club. Early in his life his family moved to Shropshire where they still live.

He studied geography at Oxford University and secured a trainee accountancy position with Arthur Andersen where he stayed for nine years.

At that point he decided to get into industry and secured a director’s post at private property investment group Brookhouse in Manchester.

He says he learnt a lot from John Hindle, who owns the property company.

"It was my first job outside accountancy and I got a lot of experience on how a good business is run," he says.

At 29 Forrester nearly died of meningitis and was only saved by his wife Helen, a doctor, who diagnosed his condition over the telephone from her home in Newcastle.

He said: "At first Helen thought I had "man flu" and I started to feel a bit better after taking some medication, but by 6pm I was at home by myself and my hands and feet started turning black.

"I was taken to hospital by a friend and the hospital said if I had left it for another hour I would have died."

It was while at home convalescing from this illness that Forrester applied for the finance director’s job at Reg Vardy’s in Sunderland.

He said: "I was 29 and I needed to get into a PLC."

He secured the job, moved North and stayed with Reg Vardy for seven years until it was bought by vehicle retail giant Pendragon.

Forrester continues: "It was a great job. I had a seat on the board and worked with Sir Peter who had built the business from one to 65 outlets. It was a godsend. I should have paid him to do that job! It was seven incredible years.

"Vardy’s was a company with values. It was professional, respectful, it had integrity and provided opportunities for its staff.

"That is how a business has to be run. Having values makes life easy in business. Decisions are made for you.

"Customers, suppliers and colleagues are treated with respect. These are the fundamental values and if you cannot get respect then what have you got?"

Forrester believes that by building upon those core values and developing his own with Vertu it will be a success. His faith in Vertu’s future seems unshakeable.

He is an intense and focused man who twists and turns in his chair as speaks of the forces which drove him to business success at a relatively young age.

He adds: "At 36 I decided to start my own company. If you cannot do something at 36 then you have to ask yourself, will you ever be able to do it?"