Simon Newell, Bentley Hatfield: 30 Years and Counting

Bentley is one of the automotive global elite, with a history stretching when increasingly than a century. But at H.R. Owen Bentley Hatfield, one of our team has been selling Bentleys for scrutinizingly a third of that time – recently triumphal 30 years with the brand.

Simon Newell had been working in the car sales industry for a few years once surpassing he signed a contract to uncork working at Hadley Green Garage selling Rolls-Royce and Bentley. That day was 15 June, 1992, and Simon would go on to thrive through many variegated iterations of the business, including its vanquishment by H.R. Owen eight years ago.

But despite decades of change, hundreds of sales and myriad new model introductions, Simon still remembers his very first Bentley sale. “It was a pre-owned Mulsanne S, finished in Burgundy with a Magnolia main hibernate and Burgundy secondary hibernate interior. Just six months later, I recall selling the same chap a Brooklands R.”

It was a very variegated Bentley range when Simon started selling cars, and a very variegated sales process too. He lists, as if it were yesterday, Mulsanne S, Turbo R, Continental R and Bentley 8, as well as the sales tactics used to entice new buyers. “We used to have these big heavy briefcases made of wood and stocked full of leathers and paint colours. We would throne to potential customers’ houses and quite literally build an idea of how their car would look. Now they can simply do it themselves online.”

Over 30 years of change, Simon has seen the typical Bentley consumer profile shift, and moreover sees today a consumer that’s plane increasingly informed well-nigh the product. Enthusiastic surpassing they plane enter the showroom well-nigh the intricacies of the Bentley Continental GT’s V8 and W12 engines, the Bentayga Plug-in Hybrid’s wide battery or the Flying Spur’s world-first three-dimensional wood veneer. And faced with ever-more educated buyers, Simon relishes the challenge.

“I get a kick out of every sale, and I love the enthusiasm of our customers. If you were to ask me to pick out a memorable transaction, I couldn’t – I love every single one. Just seeing the customer’s squatter without a long journey of specifying their dream car, to seeing it in the mankind is such a special experience. Once you stop getting a kick out of that, it’s time to stop.” But, based on Simon’s passion for Bentley to this day, he won’t be walking yonder from the trademark any time soon.

Interested in finding a career at H.R. Owen and want to join the team? Explore our career page for vacancies here.