A man of many passions… Mertrux Chairman Don Marshall
with three of the loves of his life: one of his prized Charolais
bulls, a Mercedes-Benz truck, and his pipe!
The UK commercial vehicle industry has lost one of its most
respected figures with the passing of Don Marshall, the founder of
Britain's longest-serving Mercedes-Benz dealership.
The Chairman of East Midlands group Mertrux died last Friday
(18th November) after a long illness, aged 72.
Mertrux, which has headquarters in Derby and other dealerships
in Leicester, Nottingham and Mansfield, has represented the
three-pointed star in the East Midlands since 1971, three years
before Mercedes-Benz UK opened for business. The Marshall family
also owns the Lancashire DAF and Lothian DAF truck operations,
which are based in Preston and Edinburgh respectively, and
previously held an ERF franchise.
Don Marshall came from an agricultural background and always
loved machinery. He began his career in the motor trade in 1963,
landing a job two years later selling Dodge and Commer tractors for
Burton-upon-Trent dealer Bert Deacon.
Don was truck sales manager in 1971, when, with Bert's backing,
he seized the opportunity to launch only the third Mercedes-Benz
commercial dealer in Britain. After 12 months Don and his team had
sold more than 70 units, "but we'll double that next year," Bert
told the Board. And they did.
Continued growth over the next decade, and the offer by
Mercedes-Benz UK of a passenger car franchise to run alongside the
truck and van operation, prompted a move in 1981 to the much larger
premises on the Pentagon Island in Derby which are still the
company's home.
Despite his interests on the car side, Don was proud to declare
himself a truck man through and through: "I've probably got diesel
in my veins," he joked, on more than one occasion.
He was also immensely proud of the company he built, and of its
remarkably loyal workforce. Of the 148 sales, service and parts
specialists, and administrative staff employed across its four
locations, no fewer than 20 individuals have been with Mertrux for
20 years, while six have clocked up 30 years' service, four have
reached 35 years and one, Chris Insley, the workshop foreman at
Derby, has been with the company since the very beginning, having
joined Don as a school-leaver.
The winner of numerous Mercedes-Benz and industry awards, and an
enthusiastic supporter of a wide range of deserving local causes
down the years, Mertrux is very much a family concern. Don's eldest
son Ian became Group Managing Director in 2005, having previously
served as Dealer Principal, while daughter Sarah is Company
Secretary and youngest son Matthew a Director; their sister Judith
has also worked for the company in the past. The latest recruits -
and the first of Don's 10 grandchildren to join the firm - are
Ian's daughters Lucie, 19, and Chloe, 17.
Don remained true to his agricultural roots and in later years
enjoyed tending to his prized herd of 60 pedigree Charolais cattle
on the farm he shared with wife Hazel, at Scropton, between Derby
and Uttoxeter. He was a breeder and prize-winning entrant at the
Royal Show. "Hazel complains that I'm too competitive but I've
always wanted to be the best as a motor dealer and the same goes
for the cattle," he said.
Don also built an eclectic collection of classic trucks and
other machinery. His favourite was a 32.0-tonne 'bull nose'
Mercedes-Benz LPS1418 tractor unit, which was the first vehicle
ever sold by Mertrux - it went for the princely sum of £6,250
to Burton-based Draycott Transport. Ian bought back the vehicle in
1996 as a gift for his father and once restored it was shown
regularly in public, most recently at this year's CV Show in
Birmingham where, to mark its Ruby anniversary as a Mercedes-Benz
dealer, Mertrux presented the truck at the main entrance to the NEC
exhibition halls, parked alongside a new Actros tractor unit.
Ian Marshall said: "If my father taught me one thing, it is that
this is a 'people' business, always has been and always will be.
That's why he ascribed such importance not only to the quality of
the relationships we have with our customers, but also to the
quality of the people we employ. He was a much-loved father,
grandfather and employer, and will be sorely missed."
The Marshall family have requested that anyone wishing to make a
donation in memory of Don, should do so to St Giles' Hospice,
Whittington, Lichfield - www.stgileshospice.com