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Both sides of the fence
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Rossetts Commercials' Peter Lambert has taken the plunge to turn his hand to selling commercial vehicles. We find out if the risk was worth it.
Words: Christopher Walton / Images: Graham Richardson
IOSSEITS COMMERCIALS mantging director Peter Lambert has seen )(all sides of the coin when it comes to ;ening commercial vehicles.
The former head of Mercedes-Benz's .JK light commercial sales operations tow finds himself out of Milton Keynes ind based on the south coast of E...ngland, heading up a Mercedes-Benz =V dealership operating from five sites tcross Hampshire. Sussex and Surrey.
Swap shop
t might seem odd, but swapping the ..orporate structures of multi-national rehicle-makers for a privately owned lealership sees Lambert in his element the thick end of customer service. So, for the man who has straddled both worlds, which one does he prefer?
"They both have their advantages." he admits. "A manufacturer is more longer term. You are planning two to three years in advance, and talking about sales strategies for the following year. A dealership is about today.
"The most important bit of information is what your bank balance is. I can't recall a conversation that I had in 12 years at Mercedes-Benz and DaimlerChrysler that was about cash management. The cash was always positive and it was never an issue.
At the retail end, cash is king and its management is critical," Lambert says, As anyone operating in haulage will sympathise, day-to-day cash flow is not at the forefront of your mind all the time, just in the morning but often during the night as well.
And this is especially so for Lambert, who is now the minority shareholder in Rossetts Commercials and admits that "the buck stops here" (although he doesn't share with CM whether or not there have been any sleepless nights).
Road to success
Lambert's road to Rossetts has been an unusual one. After gaining a business degree, he rose up the management ladder at Ford Credit over a nine-year period, before his first foray into the world of retail at Quicks in Manchester. After a short stint there, he switched to Toyota, before ending up at MercedesBenz, having been headhunted.
He found himself heading up its light commercial vehicles truck and van sales operation, followed by five years as sales and marketing director for Mercedes-Benz Vans. He was then promoted to the position of managing director of Chrysler for what turned out to be a turbulent period between June 2006 and December 2007 A challenging role at best, which was compounded by the arrival of new private equity owners — Cerberus Capital Management — which bought Chrysler from DaimlerChrysler.
In Lambert's own words, the departure was mutual. "I was happy with the carve-out process, the issue was with the private equity business. They wanted to adopt a different approach, which was alien to me. They wanted to reduce the incentive and marketing budget. There was a difference of opinion in how the business should be run. We agreed to part company on good terms."
Mainland moves
After a failed stint spent trying to lowering his golf handicap, Lambert was contacted by Neil McKibbin, who runs Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Northem Ireland. McKibbin was keen to expand in the UK and wanted Lambert to head up operations on the mainland.
They found themselves in business together, with McKibbin the majority shareholder and Lambert taking a minority stake. The plan was to replicate the Mercedes-Benz dealership and commercial vehicle rental business that McKibbin had transformed into a profitable operation in just over four years.
Shortlist
To cut a long story short (missing out on them almost buying a family run rental business), Lambert and McKibbin drew up a shordist of Mercedes-Benz dealers that they would like to buy. According to Lambert, Rossetts ticked all the boxes. "It was the most expensive, but that's what you would expect when you are buying the best," he says.
The deals went back and forth and eventually an agreement was reached with Rossetts slap-bang in the middle of the banking crisis.
"We re-cut that deal three times, and on the third occasion with the financial help of the previous owners. We exchanged contracts on 22 December 2008," recounts Lambert. And we completed on 31 January 2009."
Let's face it, this January was not exactly the best time to start a career selling commercial vehicles. "Lots of peo
ple said we must be mad," he confirms. "But we have not looked at this in the short to medium term, we are here for the long term.
"Rossetts was the business that stood head and shoulders above the rest. It has an excellent management team and is ideally placed in the South-East."
Lambert believes the region is a strong one for small haulage businesses to be based.
"Across Sussex. Surrey and London's southern suburbs, there are a number of small towns, as well as Gatwick Airport. but not one central hub. As a result, goods need to be moved over short distances, and its proximity to London and Europe means it will be one of the first areas to feel the effect of the muchawaited, but not often predicted, upturn in economic fortunes.
The dealership is also set to look at ways of expanding across the region, particularly into south London, which Lambert says is not covered well, but not at the expense of ensuring the existing business has firm foundations •
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