New Thinking at Chapelhouse Leads to 5.3% Return

At Chapelhouse, we have invested in new initiatives and rolled out changes, investing pride in the people. Actions that have led to a return on sales of 5.3%, well above the national average.

The first change that was rolled out was improvements to the holiday allowance. 'We used to give 20 days; that simply wasn't right. Now, everyone gets 25 days, and once they've been with us for 10 years, it goes up to 27 days. With the industry average being 22 days, it means we're now top of the tree.'

The positive reaction to the holidays saw us roll out more initiatives with our Sales Execs now working 5.5 day weeks with bonuses paid on order rather than delivery and basic salary being increased to £20k across the company. Along with this, the company has also recently paid a cash bonus to qualifying staff to help with the cost of living.

We have also invested in our partners, including Rapid RTC, Keyloop and our website to name a few so that we are not only competitive in a digital market but so that our staff and customers have a smooth and streamlined experience from start to finish.

The most important factor during all of these rapid changes has been clear and continuous communication throughout the company. Phil Clay said 'Right from the beginning, we made everyone aware of what we were doing and we were planning to do it. We were completely transparent, and this has paid off handsomely.'

The transparency of our dealers, KIA, MG and Suzuki has also been of importance. Knowing the challenges that they have faced and still are facing has allowed us to put an action plan and structure in place.

We also offer a range of staff incentives, the biggest being the opportunity for staff to spend a week's holiday in Mallorca in the company apartment. 'The staff love it, and as we include their families, it's become a real Chapelhouse incentive. People go the extra mile and are proud to earn the chance to reward their families, which in turn helps get buy-in from those at home.'

Investing in our staff has been an important movement for Chapelhouse as it helps with our ambition to be an employer of choice. The target for next year is a mirror version of this. 'It has been a great journey so far and I'm determined for us to continue it over the next 12 months.'