• Manager loses tribunal after judge told of ‘unsuitable’ vehicle

A luxury car salesman who bought an ‘unsuitable’ bright orange Bentley which languished on the garage forecourt before being sold at a loss has had his employment tribunal claim dismissed.

Kenneth Purdon quit his job as sales manager at a flagship Sytner Group Bentley dealership in Edinburgh after his performance came under scrutiny.

But his claim for unfair constructive dismissal was thrown out after a tribunal judge heard of the ‘poor buying decisions’ he made about second-hand cars.

Among the cars bought by Mr Purdon was a bright orange Bentley Bentayga which took six months to sell, at a loss of £13,500.

He also bought a bright yellow Bentley, tried to sell a car with a visible stone chip on it and advertised others which were dirty or poorly displayed.

Sytner Group has around 150 UK showrooms specialising in selling new and used cars from marques including Porsche, Maserati and Lamborghini.

The Edinburgh dealership had won Bentley’s Retailer of the Year for pre-owned cars in 2021 but the following year profits on used cars fell below target.

Concerns were raised with the sales manager and at a ‘heated’ meeting in August 2022, franchise director Robert Berry became annoyed when Mr Purdon’s reaction was to ‘smirk’ after being told his performance was not up to scratch.

A general sales manager was appointed by Sytner to support Mr Purdon and act as a ‘second pair of eyes’ on transactions.

But Mr Purdon claimed there had been a loss of ‘trust and confidence’ and resigned in September 2022 ‘because he felt that all he had built up at Bentley Edinburgh had been taken from him’.

He had started work at the dealership as a sales executive in 2018 and was promoted to sales manager in 2020 on a salary of £32,500 plus benefits and bonuses. Since leaving the firm he has been unable to find another job and has been claiming Universal Credit.

He unsuccessfully raised a grievance with Sytner about his treatment after he left and then took his case to an employment tribunal, claiming he had been constructively dismissed.

At a hearing in Glasgow in February, Mr Purdon argued that his bosses had been ‘dismissive’ of the branch’s award from Bentley in 2021. It was claimed Mr Berry had also shouted aggressively at him, criticised him unjustly and threatened to ‘performance-manage him out of the door’.

But employment judge Robert King found Mr Berry had been ‘entitled’ to speak ‘robustly’ to Mr Purdon and had not threatened to manage him out of the business.

The judgment stated: ‘It was clear from the evidence that Bentley Edinburgh had been significantly underperforming throughout 2022 in used car sales, for which the claimant [Mr Purdon] was responsible.’