A Christian businessman and philanthropist is putting employees of his car dealership firm before profit by giving his staff Sundays off.
Peter Vardy, 31, from Scotland, who maintains his business interests in the automotive retail business, has defied convention by closing his showrooms on a Sunday, traditionally the busiest day of the week for car sales.
Mr Vardy, who had previously been General Manager of Rossleigh Jaguar Edinburgh, is currently operating four franchises (BMW, Mini, Vauxhall and Chevrolet) and believes it is still possible to run a successful business while giving his employees every Sunday off.
‘I believe this can work without impacting on our business. The UK is one of the few countries in Europe were Sunday openings have become the norm,’ he said.
‘As a business, we have two key objectives: a commitment to delivering excellent customer service and a passion to ensure our people are looked after and fully motivated in their working environment.
‘To get the right balance between these aims I believe it is important that staff should have one day of the week which they can spend with their friends and families. I believe that Sunday closures will help us strike this balance,’ Mr Vardy added.
Previously, his six showrooms – in Edinburgh, Perth, Motherwell and Kirkcaldy – have traditionally opened from 11am to 5pm on Sundays.
Gareth Toher, Customer Manager at the company, said:
‘It gives me more time to see my seven-year-old son. He lives 15 miles away. Now he can spend Saturday night with me as I don’t need to be up early for work on Sunday.’
Church leaders also applauded Mr Vardy’s stance. The Reverend Ian Galloway, convener of the Church of Scotland's Church in Society Council, said:
‘He is putting a value on Sunday that is above money. A couple of months ago I was working in Germany. One Sunday I visited a good-sized town and there was not a single shop open.
‘People were out and about with family,’ he added.
It is reported that the closures will be rolled out from Sunday 10 January 2010 to the group's sites at Edinburgh (BMW and Mini), Motherwell (Vauxhall and Chevrolet), Kirkcaldy and Perth (Vauxhall).
Mr Vardy is the son of Sir Peter Vardy, 62, and grandson of Reg Vardy. The family has been at the forefront of business involvement in education and funded the building of a City Technology College in Gateshead and three Academies in Middlesbrough, Thorne and Blyth. These four schools form the Emmanuel Schools Foundation, a coalition of schools with a Christian ethos based in the north of England. The schools have received Ofsted ratings from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’.