Swansway Group chief wins Lifetime Achievement award
Date published: 08 February 2021
Michael Smyth, Chair and Founder of Swansway Group
Michael Smyth, Chair and Founder of Swansway Group, has received a coveted Lifetime Achievement award in the Car Dealer Used Car Awards.
The award has been given in recognition of his impressive motor industry achievements, and all the benefits he continues to deliver to motorists for over half a century - and counting!
From the purchase of a business comprising two wooden huts for repairing vehicles and two petrol pumps in 1967, to currently leading a business of over 1,000 staff with a turnover of £770 million, Michael Smyth’s inspiring career in the automotive industry is remarkable.
His ever-present entrepreneurial spirit, hard work and dedication, combined with his instinctive understanding of the importance of the customer experience, has led to his consistently outstanding performance in a variety of enterprises.
Michael’s previous achievements include:
· Revolutionising the selling of fuel, both in price and in customer service commitment for petrol stations.
· Identifying the opportunity presented by the introduction of Toyota to the UK market and establishing RRG Group which became Europe’s largest Toyota dealer group.
· Founding Elton Vehicle Contacts, a contact hire and leasing business that grew at a vast rate and is now part of Lex Autolease and EMaC; an automotive service plan business that allowed drivers to pay monthly for their vehicle maintenance, making it easier to budget and keep motoring affordable.
EMaC was sold to venture capitalists in 2012 and continues to be the largest service plan supplier in the UK.
· Creating Swansway Group in 2003 with his three sons; a multi-award winning, multi-faceted business, encompassing 23 dealerships, an accident repair centre and a contract hire and leasing division, from Birmingham in the Midlands to Carlisle in the North.
Swansway Group - which expanded into Oldham last year - currently represents Volkswagen, Audi, Land Rover, Jaguar, SEAT, CUPRA, Peugeot, Honda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, plus 5 Motor Match non-franchise locations.
The Michael Smyth “golden touch”, however, is still very much in evidence, and it always includes customer-led innovation and impressive attention to detail.
And the resulting outcomes are always added value and benefits for customers.
He continues to be hugely influential in making motoring affordable, sustainable and enjoyable for so many drivers, with many more developments still to come.
Michael said: “It is with great pleasure that I receive the 2020 Car Dealer Used Car Awards Lifetime Achievement award - it is a very special moment of recognition for me.
"Making a difference to the lives of motorists, and being able to give back to the communities where we do business, has always been a great privilege, and I am looking forward to all the further advancements we are aiming to bring to customers.
"Thank you to all those memorable individuals who have taken to heart the Swansway ethos of “caring, honest and proud”, and who have contributed to our success over the years. I look forward to all we will achieve together in the future.”
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