History of Sparshatts
The Sparshatts name has been synonymous with Mercedes-Benz in Kent for more than 30 years. Today the group operates a network of well-established sales and service sites across the county – but the road to success has not been without the odd twist and turn!The story began at the 1974 International Motor Show at Earls Court, London, where Roger Sparshatt, David Jones and the late Jack Sparshatt met the then Commercial Vehicle Manager of Mercedes-Benz UK, Peter Yates. A second meeting soon followed, which resulted in Roger and David being awarded the franchise for Kent – and told to find some premises as soon as possible!
Early in November of 1974 a site was located on the Eurolink Estate. On a dark, rain-swept evening Hans Taucher, Mercedes-Benz's Director of Operations, Commercial Vehicles, drove down to Sittingbourne and after driving through the building, using his headlights to illuminate the interior, he declared it perfect for the job.
The lease was secured and business started during early December 1974 – our first vehicle customer was CRG Plant of Whitstable, which purchased a 206D Chassis cab and a 2419 six-wheeled tipper. The first year of operations resulted in a loss of £9000 but the foundations for today's success had been laid. The following year sales had increased considerably and the workshop was full.
Although Roger and David were running the business Jack Sparshatt, with his years of experience in the trade, was always on hand with a word of advice or a helping hand. With his 'army' of retired employees he was always ready to 'muck in' – a typical example being the time they constructed a shelving system for the parts department out of second-hand timber, which was soon replaced at Mercedes-Benz's insistence with purpose-built racking imported from Germany!
Another of Jack's money-saving ideas was the purchase of more than 100 drums of government surplus battleship-grey paint, saying it would be "ideal for painting workshop floors". David and Roger were left to load the rusty drums onto a truck and drive them back to Sittingbourne – leaving a trail of grey paint all the way from Chatham Dockyard!Jack also found the fledgling company's first breakdown truck, a second-hand vehicle. Its first callout came on a bank holiday so Roger and David took on the job themselves – only to have their rear axle give out before they arrived at the scene! Luckily David's brother-in-law came to the rescue and towed both vehicles back to Sittingbourne.
As the business grew so did Roger & David's knowledge of the Kent 'patch' and its truck operators – they soon had to borrow a 30,000sq ft warehouse just to store vehicles awaiting August 1st delivery! Acknowledgment of this success came when, in 1984, Daimler-Benz invited Roger Sparshatt to Germany, to give a talk on the marketing of used vehicles to a group of South African dealers.
A few years later David Jones escorted 21 Part Exchange tractors units to South Africa – and ended up in jail when a disgruntled local dealer reported the trucks as stolen in the UK! Luckily Roger managed to convince police they were legitimate imports and the sale went ahead – to a very hungry market place.
Meanwhile back in Sittingbourne business was continuing to grow. More space was added to the building but even this soon proved inadequate, so in 1988 a new, purpose-built dealership was constructed, giving 16,000sq ft of workshop space, a 5,000sq ft parts department and nearly an acre of parking space.
Other developments soon followed – including a new computer system and the launch of one of Britain's first 24-hour workshops, meaning vehicles could be serviced while their drivers slept.
Further expansion came with the opening of a second depot at Ashford, and a link with Kent and Sussex Trucks added more servicing facilities. During 2003 a new depot was opened in Crayford, completing total service coverage in our area of responsibility.
Our success in representing the three-pointed star in Kent, and our commitment to the highest possible levels of service, has helped Sparshatts of Kent to win the coveted Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicle Dealer of the Year title not once but twice.
Thirty years on from those humble beginnings many of our early customers are still with us, as are a good number of our original staff! Today we employ more than 141 people and sell upwards of 900 vehicles a year, but while we continue to build for a successful future, our original values of personal service and commitment to our customers remain as strong as ever.