JCT600 CEO John Tordoff on health scares, stepping-back and that Stellantis exit

JCT600 chief executive John Tordoff has told AM that the family-run car retail group has mapped out a future strategy for the first time in its history after a series of life-changing events.

Speaking exclusively to AM, Tordoff revealed how the chance discovery of a heart condition that prompted a quadruple bypass in 2020 and the loss of his father Jack in 2021 were among factors that resulted in the drawing of a new script.

The changes will bring about the Bradford-based AM100 group’s previously announced exit from Stellantis franchises Citroen, Peugeot and Vauxhall and the “amicable exit” from some other brands.

But plans to grow with valued existing OEM partners are also being drawn in a bid to build a stronger, more sustainable future.

Tordoff, the subject of an AM dealer profile feature in 2018, said: “There is no pressure on the next generation to step-up and take on the business, there are no guarantees that they will get the job just because of their surname – too many businesses have failed because of that approach. They have to show the drive and desire to want it and the skills to do it.

“What I have said, though, is that when the time comes for me to step aside the business will be in the best shape it possibly can be, with the right partners in the right places.”

OEM relationships

JCT600 recently revealed its plans to close its Vauxhall, Peugeot and recently-opened Citroen dealership on Sticker Lane, Bradford, with immediate effect, while its Vauxhall dealership in Castleford and Peugeot in Menston will shift to Kia and Cupra next summer.

The OEM’s May 2021 decision to issue two-year termination notices to its entire European retail network as part of a roll-out of new agency model contracts clearly rocked a long-standing relationship.

Tordoff said at the same time it had presented an exit opportunity, ending more than six decades of partnership with Vauxhall and almost four decades with Peugeot.

“We just said thanks but no thanks,” said Tordoff, who added: “Nothing I have heard from them since has made me question our decision.

“It’s like a marriage, of sorts. In car retail you have ups and downs but if the relationship between the retailer and the manufacturer is strong, you believe in the brand and they believe in you, you’ll both come through it together. When that’s not the case, you’re likely to just want out.”

JCT600 does have growth plans and Tordoff is keen to grow with some of the group’s existing partners, which include Aston Martin, Bentley, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Rolls-Royce and Volkswagen.

In the past 12 months it has opened the doors to a new Porsche Centre in York, completed the development of a £9 million Ferrari dealership in Leeds and also the acquisition of Volkswagen Van Centre West Yorkshire, which Tordoff described as “an excellent fit”.

But he added: “The way I think about who we should be partnering with now is to think what my reaction would be if that brand came to me with an expansion opportunity. If I wouldn’t want to take it, why am I with that brand at all?”

According to Tordoff, JCT600 is on track for a very strong 2022 financial performance, with turnover ahead of 2021 and net profits in-line with or above those achieved in what was a bumper year for the sector.

It is likely to prove to end a period of record turnover performance, with Mercedes-Benz’s shift to an agency model in 2023 meaning that revenues from dealerships in Chesterfield, Doncaster, Harrogate, Sheffield and York will no longer appear on its results.

Tordoff said that the traditional franchise model had “never been in better shape” and said that many retailers might be prompted to “cash in their chips” as a result of uncertainty surrounding the shift to agency model agreements.

But he is unfazed by the switch and sees the group’s network of around 50 dealerships maintained after a period of restructure.

Family values

Despite the discovery of a hereditary heart defect - identified during a medical for an international motor racing licence in 2019 - which led to surgery for a quadruple heart bypass, Tordoff insists he is “fitter than ever” and has no plans to leave his chief executive post just yet.

His fitness has been ramped-up by preparations for Ben’s expedition up Mount Kilimanjaro next month as part of its Industry Leader Challenge, a feat to be completed alongside JCT600 customer experience officer Andy Bateman in a bid to raise £50,000 for the cause.

But Tordoff’s unexpected health issue did combine with the impacts of COVID to prompt him to take “half a step back” from the business.

He told AM this has helped him declutter his mind and see more of the bigger strategic picture, prompting discussions about the group’s future make-up and its succession plans.

“I’m 59 and my brother Ian’s 65,” said Tordoff. “We lost my dad last year. We have seven members of what we call generation four working in the business now.

"We’ve reached a point where we are reassessing what we want out of the business and where we want it to go now.

“There was never a master plan for the business to be as big as it is. We never sat down and created a strategy to create this huge business. We were simply good at what we did and we took opportunities as they came along. If it was in Aberdeen or London we’d say no, but there was no big master plan.

“Ian and me both made the decision that we weren’t going to be like my dad and still be coming into the business when we were 84 years old.

"We want to create space for generation four to do things their way and we want to create the foundations for them to be able to do just that.”