New year, new terms of employment at Vantage Motor Group

Vantage Motor Group has started the New Year by formalising new terms of employment for its workforce, including a five-day working week, a “no late nights” promise and up to £25,000 basic salary.

Andrew Mallory, chief operating officer at the Knaresborough-based AM100 Citroen, Kia, Lexus, Toyota, and Skoda franchised retail group, said that the move had been prompted by a desire to offer staff a “better work-life balance”.

The changes at Vantage include: up to £25,000 basic salary; guaranteed commission for the first six months; uncapped commission with higher bandings for high performers; no minimum target; 43 hours per week on average; and 6pm closing Monday to Friday.

Mallory suggested that the terms would boost Vantage’s current recruiting efforts and also acknowledged that they could help to boost diversity. He said: “To help recruit talent from outside the industry we now guarantee commission for six months for our newly recruited sales team members.

“Full training is given, lots of opportunities to progress and we close at 6pm Monday to Friday so our team can have a better work life balance.”

Mallory, part of the team that has led Vantage since its 2019 acquisition from founder Mark Robinson in a management buy-out (MBO), said that 6pm closing had been in place for some time at Vantage and said that the group acknowledged the importance of staff returning home to spend time with their families.

He did, however, highlight that many staff would be available to respond to customer enquiries during evening hours.

Automotive 30% Club founder Julia Miur was among dosens of people who took to LinkedIn to deliver a positive response to news of Vantage’s new employer promises, highlighting that the move could help attract a more diverse workforce.

Vantage is not the only car retail group starting 2022 with welcome news for its staff.

Chorley Group managing director, Adam Turner, has introduced an extra day of holiday for each member of staff to celebrate their birthday.

The extra day’s leave is being introduced in what he described as another “big year” for the group, in which its annual theme is “Maximise it” – maximise opportunity, maximise efficiencies & maximise total experience.