Group Sales Director

Location: Primarily Merseyside, with regular travel to Scotland

Peoples is an award-winning, multi-franchise automotive group – BYD Retailer of the Year, EVA accredited across all sites, Ford President’s Award winners and DEI Gold Standard within the Diversity Framework. Our marketing teams have been recognised as both Ford & OMODA|JAECOO Dealer Marketing Team of the Year and Global Brand Award winners.

We are now recruiting a Group Sales Director to join our Board of Directors and take end-to-end accountability for sales performance across our multi-brand, multi-site business in Scotland and Merseyside.

Reporting to the Managing Director, you will own and execute the Group Sales Strategy across Passenger and Commercial Vehicles, covering Ford, BYD, OMODA|JAECOO, Maxus and our used-car brand, Peoples Used+. You will drive sustainable growth in volume and profit, lead our response to the EV and new-energy transition, and ensure our sales operations, people and processes are fit for a fast-changing, digital market.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and execute the Group Sales Strategy across PV, CV and Peoples UsedPlus+, providing clear leadership and delivering growth in volume, profit and customer base.
• Hold full P&L responsibility for the Sales Division, including budgeting, reforecasting and using data and insight to drive timely decisions and corrective action.
• Lead our response to the EV/new-energy transition, ensuring OEM EV qualifiers and profit targets are met and sales teams are fully trained and confident to sell EV and new-energy products.
• Own all sales channels – retail, fleet, business, Motability and online – and work with Marketing and CX to integrate digital and showroom journeys, from enquiry through to handover and repeat business.
• Develop and deliver the used-car strategy, including Peoples UsedPlus+, with clear accountability for stock mix, age, sourcing, pricing, stock turn and margin.
• Build and maintain senior OEM relationships, influencing allocation, support and local flexibility while protecting Group profitability.
• Lead, coach and develop sales leaders and teams, championing a high-performance, values-led and inclusive culture, with strong performance management and succession planning.
• Ensure all sales activity complies with legal, regulatory and OEM requirements, including FCA, Consumer Duty, financial promotions, add-ons and GDPR.

The Ideal Candidate

• Proven experience owning a sales P&L for a divisional or multi-site portfolio in automotive retail.
• Multi-site leadership experience, ideally with Group or Board-level exposure.
• Strong track record of delivering volume and profit across New and Used, with a clear understanding of stock, F&I and add-on income.
• Senior experience working with OEM partners, ideally across multiple brands.
• Strong digital and data awareness, using dashboards and analytics to understand performance drivers and improve conversion across online journeys, lead management and remote selling.
• A leadership style that develops people, delivers the numbers and models our DEI commitments, creating an inclusive environment where diverse teams perform at their best.

Rewards and Benefits

• Dependant on Experience
• 5-day working week and 30 days’ annual leave
• Company car and private health with family cover*
• Discounts on all company products and services, including friends and family discounts
• Instant access to Peoples Rewards with thousands of online retail discounts and no spending limits

At Peoples we don’t just look at your CV. We want to know who you are, what your values are and what your potential is. We are an inclusive employer and we want everyone to feel that they can be their genuine self in work. Everyone is welcome and inclusivity and respect are at the heart of our business.