Jack Tordoff, MBE, founder and chairman of £1.45bn turnover Yorkshire-based car retailer JCT600, has been given the top honour at the Yorkshire Post’s annual business awards.

He received the Individual Award for Excellence to a standing ovation at a ceremony in Leeds. The landmark award recognises a lifetime of outstanding achievement to the region’s economic success. 

As the family business this year celebrates its 70th anniversary, Tordoff's achievement in building JCT600 from a single dealership, Brooklands Garage in Bradford, into the largest privately owned business in Yorkshire was honoured.

The company now has 50 dealerships representing 18 car marques, employs over 2,300 staff at its dealerships from Lincolnshire to Newcastle, and at the firm’s Bradford head office, and was this year named in the Sunday Times Top 100 companies to work for.

On receiving the award, he said: “You have just got to work hard, I mean work very hard.  I used to work seven days a week at one time, but it didn’t bother me because I wanted to be a winner.

"And it turned out, you do eventually get to be a winner if you work hard enough.”

Jack revealed to the audience that being given the award was an emotional experience for him and said it had “made his year” and would have a “special place in his home and heart”.