Gary Horn shares his #SuccessStory for National Apprenticeship Week

February 6^th-12^th 2023 is National Apprenticeship Week, and at Lloyd Motor group we’re celebrating by sharing success stories, shining the spotlight on our apprentices, and highlighting the strengths and assets that they bring to the group!

To kickstart the week, we’re sharing the brilliant success story of our Head of Business at Lloyd Carlisle Volvo, Gary Horn, who started his career with us over 36 years ago as an apprentice. We caught up with Gary to learn about how he progressed from his apprenticeship to Head of Business, and to learn more about his favourite parts of working with Lloyd Motor Group.


 

1. Tell us a bit about how you started at Lloyd Motor Group, and how you worked your way up to your current role.

“I was taken on as an Apprentice Sales Executive in 1986 at Derwent Street, Cockermouth – at the time, we had only 1 car in our showroom. In 1987, we all moved into the current Lloyd Cockermouth BMW premises that we have today, although at the time the showroom was split between BMW and Volvo. As I progressed in my role, I decided to go down the Volvo route, and in 1990 an opportunity arose to become the Sales Manager, supporting Tom Alston.

I continued in this role until 1996, by which time we were offered the Volvo franchise in Carlisle. At this point, I became the General Sales Manager at the Lloyd Volvo Carlisle site - the initial idea was that Lloyd Volvo Carlisle would be smaller and Lloyd Cockermouth would be the main Lloyd Volvo dealership, but we grew very quickly in Carlisle. In 1997 we moved from our initial Lloyd Volvo Carlisle site on Scotland Road to our current site on Chandler Way, and in 2006 I was promoted to my current role as Head of Business. I also looked after Lloyd Honda Carlisle between 2010-2013”.
 

2. What is your favourite part of your current role?

“My favourite part of my role is definitely the people –the people that I get to work with, the people that work for the manufacturers, and all of the people I get to meet day-to-day. If you’re someone that enjoys being around people and finding things out about people, you would definitely enjoy a job in the motor trade. Another thing I love about my job is that the motor trade is always changing – it really keeps you on your toes”.
 

3. What do you enjoy about being part of Lloyd Motor Group?

“I enjoy being part of the Lloyd family, and it’s great that Lloyd Motor Group have a humanistic approach to customer service and business, and view each and every customer as important. One of the best things about working at Lloyd Motor Group is the continuous support – there’s always someone to ask and someone to support you. The support you get when working at Lloyd Motor Group can really build your confidence - there are so many success stories of people within the business who have grown, and working at Lloyd Motor Group has made them into the people they are today. My advice would be that if you get offered an opportunity, you should take it - you never know where it could lead you”.

Discover more about apprenticeships at Lloyd Motor Group here