Arnold Clark facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir Arnold Clark
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Sir Arnold Clark at his original Park Road branch in Glasgow
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John Arnold Clark
27 November 1927 Glasgow, Scotland
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| Died | 10 April 2017 (aged 89) Glasgow, Scotland
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| Occupation | Businessman |
| Organization | Arnold Clark Group |
| Children | 10 |
Sir John Arnold Clark (born 27 November 1927 – died 10 April 2017) was a very successful Scottish businessman. He started his journey by opening a car showroom in Glasgow in 1954. His business grew a lot, and his company, Arnold Clark Automobiles, became a huge chain of car dealerships across the country. It was the biggest privately owned business in Scotland.
Sir Arnold kept his company owned by his family for over sixty years. He remained the boss, or chairman and chief executive, for all that time. In 2016, he became the first car dealer in Britain to be worth over a billion pounds.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
John Arnold Clark was born in a flat in Townhead, Glasgow, on 27 November 1927. His dad worked on ships in the River Clyde. Arnold went to Dennistoun Primary School. He left home when he was just fourteen years old and didn't have any school qualifications. During World War II, he moved to the Isle of Arran.
Joining the Royal Air Force
When he was seventeen, Arnold joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) near the end of the Second World War. He worked as an instructor, teaching people about car mechanics. He became a Corporal, which is a type of leader. He later said that this time helped him become very disciplined and taught him how to lead others.
Starting a Car Business
After leaving the RAF in the early 1950s, Arnold Clark found it hard to get a job. So, he used the money he got from leaving the army to buy a 1933 Morris Ten-Four car for £70. He fixed it up and then sold it for more money, making a profit! This gave him an idea.
First Showroom and Growth
Arnold Clark started buying and selling cars. In 1954, he opened his very first showroom on Park Road in Glasgow. He got his first official dealership for Morris Motors cars in 1959. In the early 1960s, he opened more showrooms in Glasgow, Paisley, and Bearsden.
In 1963, he started his own company to help people get loans for cars. This meant customers didn't need to go to their bank to buy a car from him. In the 1960s, Arnold Clark also began renting out cars. In 1968, his company took over Grant, Melrose and Tennant, which gave them a place to fix cars after accidents. By the late 1980s, Arnold Clark had many branches across central Scotland and even one in England.
Becoming a Giant in Car Sales
By 2002, Arnold Clark's company had 97 dealerships. They were expected to sell cars worth £1 billion that year, making it Scotland's biggest private company. In 2006, the company bought the Harry Fairbairn BMW and Mini dealerships. They also opened a huge car showroom in Glasgow Harbour, which was the biggest in Europe at the time. The next year, the company's sales were almost £2 billion.
Even at 80 years old, Arnold Clark was still in charge of his company. He remained the chairman and chief executive, earning a large salary. By 2014, his wealth was thought to be around £675 million, making him richer than other car dealers in Britain. In 2016, a newspaper estimated that his family's fortune was over £1 billion. This made him Britain's first billionaire car dealer. In 2017, he appeared on the list of The World's Billionaires for the first time.
Awards and Special Honours
In 2004, Arnold Clark was made a Knight Bachelor by the Queen. This meant he was given the title "Sir" for his great work in the car industry and for helping communities in Scotland. In 2005, the University of Glasgow gave him an honorary degree, which is a special award from a university. In 2015, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Car Dealer Magazine.
His Life Outside Work
Sir Arnold Clark was married twice and had ten children: six sons and four daughters. He had four sons from his first marriage. Sadly, one of his sons, Norman, passed away in 1995 when he was 33. His second wife was Philomena, and they had six children together. Sir Arnold lived in the village of Killearn and was a church elder, which is a leader in a church. He passed away on 10 April 2017, at the age of 89.
Amazing Car Collection
Sir Arnold Clark had a very large collection of "classic cars." These were old and special cars, like:
- A Ford Model T Town Car from 1915
- A Ford Model T Coupé from 1924
- A Citroën Cloverleaf from 1926
- A Rolls-Royce Park Ward Single Tourer from 1928
- An Austin Heavy 12 from 1929
His Yacht, Drum
In 1988, Sir Arnold bought a very big yacht called Drum from Simon Le Bon, a famous singer. This yacht was 78 feet long and needed a crew of 22 people to sail it. That same year, Sir Arnold was leading a boat race when Drum crashed into a Royal Navy submarine. This happened about five miles off the Mull of Kintyre. He sometimes loaned the yacht to Simon Le Bon and often let other groups use it to raise money for good causes.
