CEO KEN CHOO INTERVIEW ON WHAT HE DOES FOR A LIVING

CARDIFF CITY FC PAY KEN CHOO AS THEIR FULL-TIME CEO ABOUT £600,000 A YEAR:

Choo lives in London but also has a full-time job here:



Interview: H.R. Owen chief executive Ken Choo on life at head of dealer group loved by the rich and famous


‘In June, July, August 2020 we had the most fantastic months ever in the history of the company,’ says Choo.


Ken Choo Has been CEO at H.R.OWEN since 2017.



By James Batchelor


March 20, 2021


Locked-down buyers know what they’re getting when they ‘click’ to buy a new Ford Fiesta.

Let’s face it, a Fiesta is a Fiesta and it’ll be no more complicated to get familiar with than a new kettle, but for the supercar buyer lockdown car purchasing must be next to impossible.

Surely a Ferrari customer wants to test-drive the new SF90 Stradale first? Play with every feature it comes with and prod every body panel before taking delivery?

KEN CHOO

‘Some Lexus and Volkswagen dealers tell me they have customers who are spending £30,000 on a brand-new car and they want to test-drive it first – can you imagine a Lamborghini Sian customer asking the same thing?’ says Ken Choo, chief executive of H.R. Owen, the dealer group loved by the rich and famous.

‘None of the customers of the new Ferrari SF90 or the Monza SP1 or SP2 have tested the cars – none of them,’ Choo chuckles.

‘We have studied the figures and 90 per cent of our customers do not test drive – before the pandemic it was around 50/50.



‘Why? Because they know the product is good.

‘If you ask for a test drive of a Ferrari SP1, Ferrari ask “What is there to test drive? What’s wrong with it? Don’t you like it?”

‘The fantastic part of all this is that you might expect customers to say “Business is bad at the moment so I’m not picking up my new Sian or my SF90” but it’s not true. I haven’t had a single drop-off on cars worth £1.6m and above – not one.’


Choo admits that lower down the pecking order of supercars there have been some cancellations, and the new car order bank in 2020 was down by 25 per cent compared with the year before.

Proposed design for H.R. Owen's Bentley Surrey showroom
The proposed design for H.R. Owen’s Bentley Surrey showroom – see below

However, in general, the rich are still buying cars regardless and in readiness for a happier, more normal-feeling summer this year.

While new car sales understandably slipped in 2020, used cars remained consistently high for the dealer group.


‘When people can’t buy new they turn to used cars and this pushes up prices,’ says Choo.

‘One-year-old Lamborghini Uruses are selling for a £5,000-to-£10,000 premium at the moment, but the used market has a bandwidth.

‘If you look at cars above £150,000 to £160,000 it starts to get tough, but cars around £100,000 to £150,000 are selling really well.



Lamborghini Urus: In Demand says Choo

2020 will go down as a year of false starts and sudden lockdowns, and for H.R. Owen it was a painful one.

It recorded £1.9m profit before tax to the end of June 2020 – down from £8.2m the previous year – and revenue declined from £532m to £389m.

It should be said, too, that the 2019 figures were over a 14-month period.

The firm had to cut 20 per cent of its workforce and relied heavily on furlough, with around 90 per cent of staff on the scheme in the first lockdown – but there were some high points



‘In June, July, August 2020 we had the most fantastic months ever in the history of the company,’ says Choo.



‘We’ve never seen so many people coming back to buy. And the reason is people had the fear factor.

‘A lot of customers are saying, “You know, tomorrow I could leave the world and I have £100m or £200m and I’m not enjoying life – what the heck, I’ll just buy a bloody brand-new Ferrari and drive it!’

Choo reveals that business from July to December was ‘just amazing’ – up by around 200 per cent – and Brexit really helped things too as some manufacturers pushed product into the UK before the December 31 withdrawal agreement deadline.

While Choo has modest ambitions in terms of increasing the circa-1,000 cars per annum it currently sells, the 48-year-old – who’s also CEO of Cardiff City Football Club – is focused on expanding H.R. Owen’s reach.

Ken Choo

It already has a reputation to die for. Captain Harold Rolfe Owen started his business in 1932 in Mayfair, and over the years it has grown to become one of the most respected names in the global luxury automotive business.

It’s the largest dealer in the world for Ferraris and Lamborghinis on units sold, for instance, and is the biggest retailer for Bentley and Rolls-Royce in the UK.


Choo has been in the CEO’s chair since 2017 and under his watch H.R. Owen has expanded its insurance services division, while its Rolls-Royce Motor Cars of London showroom was named by the BMW-owned firm as its Global Dealer of the Year in 2019 too, but there’s more to come.



Ken Choo is leading a time of massive expansion for H.R. Owen.

In December 2020, the business bought a 5.4-acre site in Hatfield.

Along with being its HQ, the £30m development will house Bentley and Lamborghini showrooms and be a place for well-heeled clients to escape to from London at weekends (it could even be the base for Ferrari aftersales too, but Choo wouldn’t confirm that to Car Dealer).

Along with Hatfield, H.R. Owen has also bought a 0.7-acre site in Ripley to relocate its Bentley showroom, which is currently based in Byfleet.

In addition, it will cut the ribbon at a state-of-the-art Rolls-Royce showroom in Berkeley Street, Mayfair.

The new multi-million-pound dealership will be double the size of the existing showroom in Berkeley Square




https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish ... ous/219608

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So he’s a car dealer. We are run by a car dealer. And one who doesn’t expect a customer to want to test drive his or her new vehicle. Thinks it a nuisance if they do. No wonder Dalman, Choo and Tan treat us supporters with such utter disdain.

I think I’d want to test drive Cardiff City F C in this current climate!!!!!!!!!!

It does not instal confidence in the Board. It makes you feel our club is secondary on their minds.

Makes me wonder how many other clubs have a board like ours.

Is there any other companies who share a CEO role?
As stated , the club is secondary on Tans mind

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All can say is ken must work 6/7 days a week because hes at city most games... besides running
a very successful buisness....but guess he does it for the hell of it a token gesture to please the fans? As for Dalman a parasite is best description.

All can say is ken must work 6/7 days a week because hes at city most games... besides running
a very successful buisness....but guess he does it for the hell of it a token gesture to please the fans? As for Dalman a parasite is best description.

Allan,

So are fans at the games as their afternoon off.

Anyone can turn up for a free game and lunch, petrol paid and £600,000, what happens the rest of the week?


As if you read his own interview he is dedicated to the car business.

All can say is ken must work 6/7 days a week because hes at city most games... besides running
a very successful buisness....but guess he does it for the hell of it a token gesture to please the fans? As for Dalman a parasite is best description.

Allan,

So are fans at the games as their afternoon off.

Anyone can turn up for a free game and lunch, petrol paid and £600,000, what happens the rest of the week?


As if you read his own interview he is dedicated to the car business.

Yes he clearly says he is but point is he takes the time to attend games .... I use to go away and saw him at most away games as well.... yes he gets big bucks from club so expect
him to be there but there are CEOs who get paid who dont go to games ...... as said Dalman different story should been gone long ago...

All can say is ken must work 6/7 days a week because hes at city most games... besides running
a very successful buisness....but guess he does it for the hell of it a token gesture to please the fans? As for Dalman a parasite is best description.

Allan,

So are fans at the games as their afternoon off.

Anyone can turn up for a free game and lunch, petrol paid and £600,000, what happens the rest of the week?


As if you read his own interview he is dedicated to the car business.

Yes he clearly says he is but point is he takes the time to attend games .... I use to go away and saw him at most away games as well.... yes he gets big bucks from club so expect
him to be there but there are CEOs who get paid who dont go to games ...... as said Dalman different story should been gone long ago...

Wow £600,000 a year to attend games, I think you will find 99% of Cardiff fans won’t see it your way and I certainly don’t.
I am going to put your reply Allan on Twitter and Fb, see what others think.

Other CEO’s at least work at their job , not give all their work to another business a couple of hundred miles away, car salesman.

I suppose you also back the clowns regarding the Transfer Embargo

All can say is ken must work 6/7 days a week because hes at city most games... besides running
a very successful buisness....but guess he does it for the hell of it a token gesture to please the fans? As for Dalman a parasite is best description.

Allan,

So are fans at the games as their afternoon off.

Anyone can turn up for a free game and lunch, petrol paid and £600,000, what happens the rest of the week?


As if you read his own interview he is dedicated to the car business.

Yes he clearly says he is but point is he takes the time to attend games .... I use to go away and saw him at most away games as well.... yes he gets big bucks from club so expect
him to be there but there are CEOs who get paid who dont go to games ...... as said Dalman different story should been gone long ago...

Wow £600,000 a year to attend games, I think you will find 99% of Cardiff fans won’t see it your way and I certainly don’t.
I am going to put your reply Allan on Twitter and Fb, see what others think.

I suppose you also back the clowns regarding the Transfer Embargo

Do what you like not bothered as dont do social media and judging by what see on here they're all the same faceless sheep ..... as for the embargo quip I'll just treat it with the contempt it deserves

All can say is ken must work 6/7 days a week because hes at city most games... besides running
a very successful buisness....but guess he does it for the hell of it a token gesture to please the fans? As for Dalman a parasite is best description.

Allan,

So are fans at the games as their afternoon off.

Anyone can turn up for a free game and lunch, petrol paid and £600,000, what happens the rest of the week?


As if you read his own interview he is dedicated to the car business.

Yes he clearly says he is but point is he takes the time to attend games .... I use to go away and saw him at most away games as well.... yes he gets big bucks from club so expect
him to be there but there are CEOs who get paid who dont go to games ...... as said Dalman different story should been gone long ago...

Wow £600,000 a year to attend games, I think you will find 99% of Cardiff fans won’t see it your way and I certainly don’t.
I am going to put your reply Allan on Twitter and Fb, see what others think.

I suppose you also back the clowns regarding the Transfer Embargo

Do what you like not bothered as dont do social media and judging by what see on here they're all the same faceless sheep ..... as for the embargo quip I'll just treat it with the contempt it deserves

He virtually goes to No away games now.

Wow I would hate to be involved in a business with you , you would give £600,000 a year to someone as long as he attended every other week a home game to smile and talk crap and all expenses paid.
You certainly are something Allan.

It’s not April fools day yet.

All can say is ken must work 6/7 days a week because hes at city most games... besides running
a very successful buisness....but guess he does it for the hell of it a token gesture to please the fans? As for Dalman a parasite is best description.

Allan,

So are fans at the games as their afternoon off.

Anyone can turn up for a free game and lunch, petrol paid and £600,000, what happens the rest of the week?


As if you read his own interview he is dedicated to the car business.

Yes he clearly says he is but point is he takes the time to attend games .... I use to go away and saw him at most away games as well.... yes he gets big bucks from club so expect
him to be there but there are CEOs who get paid who dont go to games ...... as said Dalman different story should been gone long ago...

Wow £600,000 a year to attend games, I think you will find 99% of Cardiff fans won’t see it your way and I certainly don’t.
I am going to put your reply Allan on Twitter and Fb, see what others think.

I suppose you also back the clowns regarding the Transfer Embargo

Do what you like not bothered as dont do social media and judging by what see on here they're all the same faceless sheep ..... as for the embargo quip I'll just treat it with the contempt it deserves

He virtually goes to No away games now.

Wow I would hate to be involved in a business with you , you would give £600,000 a year to someone as long as he attended every other week a home game to smile and talk crap and all expenses paid.
You certainly are something Allan.

It’s not April fools day yet.

Wouldn't go Into buisness with you either! Your trouble is you only see what you want to see to suite yourself... like said not paranoid about ccfc owners so dont have to follow the populistic agenda and can have own views... this forum would be very boring if we all had same opinions as yourself and your followers... anyway time to do something more interesting so have good xmas annis

All can say is ken must work 6/7 days a week because hes at city most games... besides running
a very successful buisness....but guess he does it for the hell of it a token gesture to please the fans? As for Dalman a parasite is best description.

Allan,

So are fans at the games as their afternoon off.

Anyone can turn up for a free game and lunch, petrol paid and £600,000, what happens the rest of the week?


As if you read his own interview he is dedicated to the car business.

Yes he clearly says he is but point is he takes the time to attend games .... I use to go away and saw him at most away games as well.... yes he gets big bucks from club so expect
him to be there but there are CEOs who get paid who dont go to games ...... as said Dalman different story should been gone long ago...

Wow £600,000 a year to attend games, I think you will find 99% of Cardiff fans won’t see it your way and I certainly don’t.
I am going to put your reply Allan on Twitter and Fb, see what others think.

I suppose you also back the clowns regarding the Transfer Embargo

Do what you like not bothered as dont do social media and judging by what see on here they're all the same faceless sheep ..... as for the embargo quip I'll just treat it with the contempt it deserves

He virtually goes to No away games now.

Wow I would hate to be involved in a business with you , you would give £600,000 a year to someone as long as he attended every other week a home game to smile and talk crap and all expenses paid.
You certainly are something Allan.

It’s not April fools day yet.

Wouldn't go Into buisness with you either! Your trouble is you only see what you want to see to suite yourself... like said not paranoid about ccfc owners so dont have to follow the populistic agenda and can have own views... this forum would be very boring if we all had same opinions as yourself and your followers... anyway time to do something more interesting so have good xmas annis

Merry Xmas Allan to you and your family But not to your best friends Tan, Dalman and Choo the ones killing our club , it breaks my heart that anyone could still like them the way our club is heading.

Allan, I was a Tan backer for years in that simply he wrote cheques for the club every month for millions to pay for most of those talentless nerks we have let go over the last few years. We saw one last Saturday in Madine, no goals (except obviously against us!) shorts too tight and always got his hands on his privates, says it all really.

Anyway, I`ve changed my mind about Tan over the last 6 months. I don`t believe he`s stupid but I believe that the three of them at the top thinks we are. A number of I hope factual points that confirm this.

We`ve got a three time transfer embargo, this has been building for years now. Any other BOD would have sorted this out by now as you can`t have this type of bad publicity hanging over you let alone the practical consequences. The real issue here is Dalman and Choo trying to hide from Tan that they didn`t insure him hence the pointless legal wrangle continues.
Obviously a £15 million asset should have been insured from the minute he put pen to paper and thats the job of Choo to organise this. If he`d have worked for me I`d have sacked him a terrible and business critical mistake. (I`d love to see the lawyers bill for this)

£600,000 a year. Obviously for that type of money we could get someone decent who would commit here full time, so why are we arguing about whether he goes to away games or not. The CEO should be at every game and some youth team ones, ladies etc. I know I would expect that if I was the owner.

But wait, Dalmans even worse. Wouldn`t surprise me that he and Tan are glad about the embargo. As we won`t be able to spend any money which will suit Tan. The Yes/No answer to will the ban effect us, says it all really.

As for Tan I don`t blame him for saying this but its not true. He thinks we should be grateful for the millions he`s put in and that entitles him to a pass from criticism. I believe that if a proper strategy had been put in certainly after our second promotion we`d still be there now and Tan would have had a Premiership club to bask in , delight from the fans, the rebrand put to the back of many peoples minds and a valuable asset to sell. Because he doesn`t know football but more importantly has appointed two duffers below him he`s now in it big time from all fronts, managerial appointment have been mostly disastrous, his management team are awful, club communication is dire, league position is awful, a squad mainly of rag, tag and bobtail, crowds actually in the ground against Blackpool about 13,000,the Sala saga an all round embarrassment.

I don`t believe he`s going to invest anymore and the first thing he would have to do before he spent a penny more is appoint a proper CEO, Director of Football whatever. He`s stayed with Choo and Dalaman and that`s his undoing. If relegation forces his hand to sell then so be it. But will I be going to QPR and Coventry of course I will that`s blind faith for you but in any other business you`d be going somewhere else

Replies from FB including a Jack laughing:

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CARS or CLUB - CHOO CHOO

Like most on here I wish we had different owners but the idea of sharing facebook posts to try and alienate is not good.

Cardiff city do not pay choo 600k , the highest paid director is on 400k and I doubt its choo , read the accounts some have speculated that dalman is on 400k , maybe kieth could confirm this .

Like most on here I wish we had different owners but the idea of sharing facebook posts to try and alienate is not good.

I've always cringed at that coz the posts are very selective.

Cardiff city do not pay choo 600k , the highest paid director is on 400k and I doubt its choo , read the accounts some have speculated that dalman is on 400k , maybe kieth could confirm this .

Show the accounts Wez,

He got either £565,000 or £600,000 plus ?

Even if you were right it’s a f*cking disgrace

Like most on here I wish we had different owners but the idea of sharing facebook posts to try and alienate is not good.

I've always cringed at that coz the posts are very selective.

Wez,

You show me different ones than the ones I have put out please?

As there are dozens more worse abd to bad to go on here

You belong to the same groups , please show support for the Hierarchy???????

Like most on here I wish we had different owners but the idea of sharing facebook posts to try and alienate is not good.

I've always cringed at that coz the posts are very selective.

Wez,

You show me different ones than the ones I have put out please?

As there are dozens more worse abd to bad to go on here

You belong to the same groups , please show support for the Hierarchy???????

https://www, ccfctrust.org/cardiff-cityaccounts-trust-expert-gives-his-view/ Read this choo is not on 600k he's probably is on too much but the amount being quoted on here is not right

If Choo and Dalman COMBINED are on £400k it’s too much. Neither are anywhere “full time” and neither have any proven acumen in running a successful football club.