Mark Mitchell’s recipe for 4% return on sales? Put people first

Group finance director Julie Oliver; Mazda brand manager Brian Blanchard; Škoda brand manager Richard Macklin; group parts manager Steve Price; group service manager Mick Mills; group marketing and communications manager Ian Wilde; and Neil Crowdon, Mitchell’s fellow shareholder and director, assemble in the stairwell at the heart of the group’s Mazda and Škoda dual-franchise facility at Cheshire Oaks to recreate an image (see overleaf) taken 10 years earlier for a feature on the business.

Not many franchised retail groups can claim to have such continuity, or the 4% staff turnover that suggests this trend extends beyond senior positions.

“There’s a real family culture here and it pays huge dividends in staff recruitment and efficiency,” said Mitchell.