Prior to starting work with Dick Lovett, I was on a full-time Motor Vehicle Technician’s course at Soundwell College. I was Captain of the ‘Junior Mechanic of the Year’ team and Bristol’s Service Manager came to watch the competition and then invited me in for an interview! He subsequently offered me an Apprenticeship on what was, in 1989, BMW’s new Apprentice Scheme.
After my Apprenticeship, I became a Service Advisor before moving into Sales, both Retail and Corporate, and have sold new and used cars and motorcycles. Most recently, I was the BMWi Brand Manager in Bristol. Having the opportunity to launch a whole new BMW brand (BMWi) for the Group was a real highlight which may never happen again in my career, and on top of that, I was named “BMWi Agent of the Year” by BMW UK.
I then moved into my current role of Group Electric Vehicle Specialist. I really enjoy promoting electric cars and helping staff and customers to understand the benefits. It’s not as daunting as they think.
This is a Group position where I assist and train members of the Retail and Corporate Sales Teams across all of the brands regarding Electric Vehicles and ownership. I give help and guidance to customers if they have any questions about using their Electric Vehicle. I’m also involved in a project to install a large number of Fast and Rapid charge points across all of our BMW and MINI Centres.
Dick Lovett has an Electric Specialist at each of our BMW, MINI, Jaguar Land Rover and Porches Centres who are in a range of job roles, not necessarily Salespeople, but whoever we feel would be the best and most enthusiastic person to support customers.
At Dick Lovett, you do get a feel that it’s a family run business with lots of opportunities if you are prepared to work hard. I plan for us as a Group to be the most knowledgeable and professional people a customer can deal with in the UK when buying their electric car.
The motor industry is very traditional with lots of “petrol heads”, so I’d like to see the industry embracing change as we move away from selling new combustion engine vehicles, because there are some fantastic opportunities to still enjoy your motoring.
