FAMILY BUSINESS 100 YEARS AT BENTLEY
We meet the family with Bentley in its blood as the brand celebrates its centenary
THE Queen reserves her congratulatory telegrams for people who have reached 100 years old, but if ever there were a car company that was worthy of a missive from our Monarch, it’s Bentley.
Now a century old, the luxury performance firm has lost none of its uniquely British character under the watchful eye of the Volkswagen Group, with the Continentals, Mulsannes and Flying Spurs of today true to founder W.O. Bentley’s desire “to build a fast car, a good car, the best in its class”.
The firm’s history, racing pedigree and reputation for luxury have all played a huge part in getting it to where it is today. But there’s one factor that arguably matters more than any other: the passion of the people who work there. More than 4,000 people are employed at Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe, Cheshire, and staff stay at the company for an average of 12 years – which is roughly three times the average length of time a UK worker spends with one firm today.
To find out what keeps people with Bentley for so long, and to help the company celebrate its centenary, we paid a visit to Bentley Crewe – more specifically to the brand’s flagship showroom, CW1 House – to meet a family from which four generations have been employed at the site over the last 58 years.
The story begins with Percy Cowap, who started working in a maintenance role at Bentley Crewe from when the factory first opened until 1961. Coincidentally, and unknown to Percy at the time, his future son-in-law, Lesley Teale, started his role as a ‘skilled man’ in 1950, working in the factory until 1992 when he retired.
Fast-forward to the present day and three members of Lesley’s family, from the two generations after him, are currently employed at Crewe, and it’s these three that we met when we visited.
Longest-serving of the trio is Julia Teale, Bentley’s skills development manager. Even by Bentley standards Julia is a long-standing member of staff, having worked at Crewe since she left school 35 years ago.
“I think it was because dad had already worked here, and had already been part of the Bentley family,” Julia said, explaining why she joined the company so early on. “There used to be open days for the children and
“It’s a big community at the end of the day – it doesn’t really feel like a business” DAN BUTLER Technical manager