A family-run dealership is waving goodbye to two members of staff who have racked up a century of service between them.
The Ron Brooks group, which runs Toyota and Suzuki showrooms in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, had employed both Paul Stephenson and Robert Shaw since 1966.
Any motor business that has been running for this length of time with have seen some major changes, from the models it stocks to the way it sells cars. As business – and the industry – develops, it’s wise to stay on top of your insurance and make sure you have an adequate comprehensive motor trade insurance policy to cover your business.
When Paul Stephenson started at Ron Brooks, he was covering the maternity leave of the office manager. He was appointed a director of the business in 1968.
Robert Shaw began his career with the company as a 15-year-old apprentice and was appointed as workshop controller more than 15 years ago.
Mr Stephenson said: “When I joined, there were only seven members of staff and we were selling Simca cars.
“After more than 40 years of being with Toyota and now Suzuki, we have grown to almost 100 staff working out of three state-of-the-art dealerships.”
Mr Shaw added: “The business is always changing and that’s why it’s remained interesting. We’ve had our ups and downs over the years, but we’ve always come through it by pulling together and working for each other.
“The foundations that the company was built on remain true to this day. If somebody has an issue or a problem, we ask ourselves ‘would I be happy with that?’ and if the answer is no then we fix it.”
