Brothers Glen and Thomas Obee have been awarded a new Strategic Success Award at the 2022 AM Awards in recognition of their work to grow Motorline, the AM100 dealer group which they sold to Marshall Motor Holdings in 2021.
New for 2022, this award enables AM and our audit partner UHY Hacker Young to give special recognition for the long-term strategic leadership of a motor retail business.
The winners enjoyed a remarkable finale in 2021 in the sale of Motorline to Marshall Motor Holdings, after spending the last 15 years transforming the business, more than quadrupling its annual revenues to almost £700 million.
This was done by extending its franchise portfolio, which included Nissan, Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda, and its geographic footprint across Kent, West Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire, Bristol, South Wales and the West Midlands.
They focused on their workforce: engaging and developing staff, building high performing teams. They willingly invested in their properties and proved they could get a decent return from mainstream brands.
In an AM interview during 2015 they said: “The best compliment you can have is when manufacturers say they’d prefer you to do it, and we’ve been lucky to be in that position with our partners.”
Only entering the AM100 after the 2008 global recession, the Obee brothers drove the family business, which had been founded by their father in 1972, up the rankings to be among the 25 biggest UK motor retailers by 2021.
Their negotiation with UHY Hacker Young of the £64.5 million sale of the group to Marshall and retirement from the industry was the mark of long-term strategic success.
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