A Nottingham headquartered car retailer is furloughing the majority of its staff and introducing pay cuts for senior staff to protect itself against the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis.
Pendragon, which is the second-largest motor retailer in the UK, closed all of its dealership sales showrooms on March 24, in accordance with government regulation.
Since then, the business, which owns Stratstone, Evans Halshaw, Car Store, Pinewood, Quickco and Pendragon Vehicle Management, has been operating with a reduced workforce at select dealerships to allow for the maintenance and repair of emergency service vehicles and those of frontline workers only.
Now, due to the sudden decrease in business activities, Pendragon, which is Nottingham’s second largest company, has announced a series of measures to protect its financial position.
It has announced it is furloughing more than 80% of its UK staff for a 21-day period.
Meanwhile, the salaries of board members and those holding senior leadership positions will be cut by up to 20%, while the pay of upper management will reduce by up to 15%.
Other corporate and field support personnel will see their pay reduced by up to 10%.
And in order to support frontline medical workers, Pendragon will be donating the 20% reduction in the salary of chief executive Bill Berman to the NHS at his request.
Mr Berman, who took over as chief executive in February, said: “My priority has been and will continue to be, the safety and wellbeing of our associates, customers and partners in the communities we serve throughout the United Kingdom.
“Supporting our first responders and frontline workers must be our priority as residents and citizens of this great country.
“Each day the men and women of the NHS put themselves in harm’s way in order to save the lives of people they have never met. Every little bit we can do to help the NHS will make a difference.”
In addition to donating Mr Berman’s salary cut, Pendragon is donating 20,000 disposable seat covers to local health trusts and offering 25% off to all first responders and frontline workers for any maintenance or warranty work needed on their vehicles through the end of April at all operating Pendragon service centre locations.
