Pendragon boss quits after just three months

Pendragon’s chief executive Mark Herbert is set to leave the company just over three months after taking the job.

Herbert will step down “by mutual agreement”, according to the Nottingham car retailer.

The news comes just two weeks after the firm said it expects to make a small loss for 2019, with the first-half of the year expected to be “significantly loss making” ahead of returning to overall Group profitability for the second-half.

Pendragonsaid its Car Store arm will report losses of £25m by the end of this year.

Executive Directors Martin Casha (chief operating officer) and Mark Willis, (chief financial officer) will lead the business on a day to day basis, reporting to Chris Chambers, the chairman.

The news means that Pendragon’s strategic update originally scheduled for late September will now be postponed until the appointment of a new chief executive.

Chamber said: “The Board remains fully committed to realising the long-term strategy. In the nearer term, despite challenging market conditions and the costly stock reduction programme, our focus will remain on taking steps to improve the performance of the business as outlined in our recent Financial and Operational Review.”

Pendragon operates the Evans Halshaw and Stratstone brands.