F&I Management & Training

Vertu Motors, number eight in the Motor Trader Top 200, will launch a graduate recruitment programme in 2011.

The dealer group said it aims to recruit four graduates and place them on a programme combining an MSc in Automotive Retail at Loughborough University and a development programme within its business.

Places will be available at its dealerships in Bromley, Dunfermline, Birmingham and Derby. Vertu said by the end of the third year the graduate will have experience of both sales and aftersales and then specialise in one area of the business. The first six months will place the graduates in sales executive and service adviser roles within the sponsoring dealership. One graduate has already been recruited and three more are to be recruited over the next two months.

“As a growing group, determined to be a success over the long term, it is vital we develop talented, driven and mobile managers, who can take the Group to the next level,” said Robert Forrester (pictured), chief executive.

“This is a major investment, but we are convinced this is a necessary step. If our industry is to be successful and innovative, we need to ensure that we have a variety of backgrounds for our managers and a graduate programme must play a part in this.”

Professor Jim Saker of Loughborough University said: “The Masters degree is a challenging programme that attracts high quality, successful individuals from a wide spectrum of the Motor industry. The programme provides an ideal development structure for graduates and experienced managers working within the sector. We are looking forward to joining with Vertu Motors to increase the professionalism within the organisation and the industry.”

DATED: 25.11.10

FEED: MT