Simon Elliott is leading from the front at Mercedes-Benz and FUSO Dealer Intercounty Truck & Van
SIMON Elliott, one of the best-known figures in the UK automotive sector, having been Managing Director of MAN Trucks, CEO of Volkswagen Group in Ireland, Managing Director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK and Managing Director of Chrysler Jeep UK and China has recently renewed his association with Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler by taking up the position of Managing Director at one of the manufacturer’s leading franchised commercial vehicle dealerships, since then many things have changed within the organisation.
Intercounty Truck & Van sells and supports Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles, as well as FUSO Canter light trucks, from headquarters in Wellingborough, and other branches in Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Boston, Lincoln and Toddington.
Here’s what Simon had to say about the business and the general landscape right now:
How do you see the business environment right now?
Actually our business is dramatically improving but there are many that would probably say about time, the need for more home deliveries and the need to keep the country moving means that the commercial vehicle market remains stable and in fact our van business is growing at a rapid pace and our service business growth has meant we are now open 24 hours a day seven days a week in most locations.
Statistics are showing consumer confidence is fragile and the high street is under pressure for sure, but our philosophy is to deliver a greatly improved level of service to our business customers, look forward not negatively backwards and grasp the moment by delivering a service that people want to be associated with. ‘Complacency’ is not a word I accept.
What were your biggest priorities when joining Intercounty?
To walk the talk with a customer-focused approach, understanding our customers need great deals on trucks and vans but also need their vehicles delivering back on time and as promised, with the requisite work done to a high Mercedes-Benz standard.
To do this I needed higher levels of staff retention, which we have achieved, and engagement from them all too, understanding that they have a key part to play in our story moving forward.
And finally represent the Mercedes-Benz values in everything we do. We may not get it right every time but we are hitting more targets now than ever before.
What is your biggest challenge right now?
We are busy in sales and service, and our parts business is growing at an amazing pace so keeping customers happy and informed is a priority.
As our business grows we need to strategically look at holistic areas that will allow it to grow painlessly for our customers, we need to gain more available hours for our service customers and continue to improve our efficiency, we also need to keep growing the Mercedes-Benz truck and van sales business allowing the Mercedes brand to represent more of our customers whether they be one man bands or multi vehicle fleets.
Are you locally based or national?
We are part of the Ballyvesey Group who own Montgomery Transport, Montracon Trailers, Centurion Vehicle Rental, and Sapphire Vehicle Services a national all-make commercial service network to name but a few, so we could say we are national.
My Mercedes-Benz businesses, however, are based in Boston, Lincoln, Peterborough, Milton Keynes, Toddington and our head office and depot is in Wellingborough.
Looking at your background of running multinational, big brands here and overseas how have you found the transition into a more customer-facing, local role?
Without our valued customers our business could not deliver the growth that we have achieved or the planned developments we want to achieve so for me they are the most important piece of the jigsaw, we are overcoming some historic challenges.
As I’ve said, we are growing our business because we are working with our customers. I live in Northamptonshire and pride myself on being very customer focused, I am enjoying the daily contact that you don’t always get in a brand HQ.
You talk a lot about marketing, brand and increased awareness what have you done or will you do to develop this?
We have dramatically grown our online exposure on social media via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook along with pay-per-click and display advertising, we have also sponsored Northampton town Football Club with their Academy, we attend many local shows and events. We have recently purchased our own hospitality unit, have an annual golf event at Northamptonshire County Golf Club, and we have improved the visibility and customer experience at all our sites and we now open Saturday for sales as well as service.
Do you operate an apprentice scheme?
Yes we do, but we are also a bit different here. Not only do we have apprentices in the technical arena where we have 11 to support our 91 (and growing) technicians but we also have an apprentice scheme to grow our own sales people in vans and trucks
What one message would you want to leave readers with?
Mercedes-Benz as a brand is known worldwide as quality and anyone who has Mercedes on their vehicles are promoting the fact they are associated with one of the world’s best. It shows off their own company really well.
We at Intercounty want to support that and at local level deliver an exceptional level of service, we want to be put to the test, we want to show we are different and that we walk the talk.
Let us prove that a relationship with Intercounty Mercedes-Benz is a great business decision for the long term.