Patterson boss plans time off

Dec 5 2007 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

PROMINENT North-East businessman Ashley Winter says he taking time off after selling the family car dealership – although he may return to business in the new year.

Last month the managing director of the Patterson Motor Group announced the business had been sold to Scottish company Arnold Clark Automobiles for an undisclosed fee.

Patterson’s, which is based on Newcastle’s Scotswood Road with showrooms in Newcastle, Hexham and Shiremoor employing 370 people, will adopt the Arnold Clark brand in the new year.

Mr Winter, 52, is currently enjoying some time off for the first time in almost 30 years. And in the coming months he plans to obtain his Yacht Master’s Certificate.

He said: “We enjoy yachting abroad, although I don’t have my own yacht. I’ve never had time to get this certificate so I now intend to put that right.”

Mr Winter, who is regional chairman of the Learning and Skills Council and a governor at Northumbria University, as well as a non-executive director of two venture capital funds, says these interests will also keep him busy.

“I have a wide range of experience after 30 years in the private sector and from my work in the public sector and I am looking to pursue these in the future.”

RH Patterson’s was founded in 1911 as a general engineering company. The following year Ashley’s grandfather John Martin Winter joined the company.

Ashley joined Patterson’s in 1979.

He told The Journal earlier: “We were approached by Arnold Clark who would like a presence in the North-East and they knew we had a very successful business.”

Sir Arnold Clark opened his first showroom in his hometown of Glasgow in 1954 and has grown his business into a £2bn-a-year empire with over 145 branches nationwide, employing over 8,000 people.