Robert Forrester, Vertu Motors chief executive, has been named as the winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award at this year’s North East Accountancy Awards.
 
The award, which recognises business leaders who have consistently excelled in their field over a number of years by growing their companies and creating jobs.

Now in its seventh year, the awards event, held at the Hilton Hotel in Newcastle, celebrates excellence within the fields of finance, accounting and tax from all industry sectors headquartered in the North East.
 
Vertu Motors, which has grown into a £1.2bn company, is now the sixth largest automotive retailer in the UK and has recently acquired Albert Farnell, a Yorkshire based business of three Land Rover dealerships, for £31m from Co-operative Group Motors.

Forrester said: “A company is only as good as the people who work within it, and undoubtedly, the credit for Vertu’s success must be given to all my extremely hard-working colleagues, who have helped this company to grow and expand to become one of the largest automotive retailers in Europe.
 
“We are extremely pleased to have added the prestigious Land Rover brand to our portfolio in the last few days and I regard the acquisition as the most significant moment in our history since the purchase of Bristol Street Motors.”