Award winner led his Inchcape team to create a "yardstick" business

Leading a cultural transformation at a two-site dealership underpinned the winner of the 2023 AM Award for Dealer Principal/General Manager (DP/GM) of the Year. 

Less than 18 months after Joe Gayson became head of business at Inchcape Jaguar Land Rover Norwich the carmaker was holding the operation up as a global yardstick for customer satisfaction and profitability. 

And it was his account of a team brought closer together, and inspired to improve as individuals by a focus on career development and progression, that won their votes. 

Gayson oversaw the opening of a new Nissan dealership when aged just 22 and has continued his career progression at Inchcape, despite battling the symptoms of dyslexia. 

He described the condition as “a key strength”, however, adding: “I am nothing without the team around me.” 

JLR Norwich underwent a complete leadership restructure which coincided with Gayson’s arrival in July 2021.  He leveraged the change to build a culture of support, developing closer ties between the dealership  team and management and creating a succession plan for the leaders of tomorrow. 

Nowhere was this better demonstrated than through a technician who had been planning to depart before identification of his dyslexia resulted in improved support to help him further his manufacturer training and development within the business. 

Crucially, the new team ethic and drive to succeed has resulted in a trebling of pre-tax profits between 2020 and 2022 and a NPS score that doubled in 2022 alone – accelerating it above JLR’s national average. 

“This movement hasn’t happened overnight or by chance,” said one manufacturer representative.

“It has happened through the great teamwork Joe has put in place.”  

Sponsor's comment 

Castrol has a strategic focus to become the market leader in branded automotive workshops, and currently over 220 independent workshops in the UK meet the core quality and customer service criteria required to carry the ‘Castrol SERVICE’ branding. This year we introduced the new TÜV certification to further elevate the benchmark for Castrol SERVICE workshops.

The automotive industry has faced many sales and aftersales challenges over the last five years and our new independent certification helps businesses optimise operation standards while further building customer trust. We know what it takes to create a successful workshop business and have created high performance oils, lubricants, fluids and greases for every requirement.

As sponsor of the 2023 AM ‘Dealer Principal of the Year Award’, we extend our congratulations to all those shortlisted, including Tony Sciascia and Paul Darch, who were highly commended. Special mention goes to the winner, Joe Gayson, Head of Business at Inchcape Jaguar Land Rover Norwich, for his dedication to providing the ultimate customer experience – from sales right through to aftersales. We wish them every success in the future!

 

Our AM Awards 2023 sponsors