Pentagon Group trials Sunday closing at all 30 car dealerships

Pentagon Group has become the latest AM100 car retailer to implement Sunday closing at its dealerships, introducing a three-month trial of a new five-day working pattern.

The group said the move follows its latest annual employee survey and a period of consultation and discussion on ways of delivering a better work-life balance within its sales teams.

Effectively moving employees from a five-and-a-half day sales working rota to a five-day cycle, the shift echoes the introduction of Sunday closing recently announced by Burrows Motor Company.

David Peel, managing director at Pentagon Group, said: “I think this is great news for our people. We have a rigorous and ongoing programme of actioning feedback from our annual surveys looking at employee satisfaction levels in all areas and are delighted to be able to announce this important trial. We have a great team across our 30 sites and helping them with an enhanced work/life balance is important.”

As well as bringing potential employee benefits, and potnetiall mitigating against wage infltaion, manu UK car retailers are also seeing Sunday closing as one way of cutting showroom energy costs as overheads soar.

Former MHA employment tax director Nigel Morris recently told AM that retail businesses can also "flex" staff bonuses and salary sacrifice schemes to mitigate against the impact of the cost-of-living crisis as UK inflation continues to soar.

Peel said Pentagon's shift to a five-day working week had been aided in its planning by a changing pattern in customer behaviours.

He said: “Our own experience parallels recent findings of industry-wide surveys that show the number of people shopping seriously for cars on a Sunday is now down to around just 8% of the weekly total.

“That’s incredibly wasteful, not only of our talented sales and support teams’ time, but also of the energy required for opening each of our facilities to the public for such a small level of possible business. In these times of national need for energy conservation and restraint, this seems an additional win for us all.

“Far better for all concerned to focus our teams efforts and numbers on the Monday to Wednesday period and Saturdays that are now comfortably our busiest periods in showrooms.”