Man behind the wheels

DAVID Richards may drive a top-of-the-range Aston Martin to work, but he is still half an hour late for our meeting.

There was plenty of time to admire the mud-spattered grey Vanquish in the car park (registration: DPR 1) before the man who liked it so much he bought the company came striding over.
We have exactly an hour in his pristine office at motor sports company Prodrive before Richards, who spearheaded the recent BD360 million purchase of the classic car brand, has to pick up Sports Minister Richard Caborn in nearby Silverstone.
The 54-year-old will be piloting his own helicopter to do so. The trip takes only six minutes by air, a speed not even possible for the car favoured by James Bond.
Is life always this hectic, I ask. He smiles and nods from behind his most enormous desk, which is made from a shiny chrome Dakota aeroplane wing.
Richards, an unshaven dynamo in a tailored suit and a lifelong Aston Martin fan, became a headline writer’s dream when his involvement in the firm’s takeover – despite being financed by two Kuwaiti investment houses and an American banker – led several newspapers to laud him as “the man who made Aston British again”.
Rival bidders sniffed at the high price paid for a company that has lost money in all but two of its 92 years. After almost two decades owned by global car group Ford, the UK-made Aston Martin made its first profit in 2005. It is estimated to have made operating profits of BD30 million last year.
Jon Moulton, the private finance doyen who took an interest in the company, described the final price as requiring “optimistic Arab finance”.
So was it a vanity purchase or a hard-headed business decision? Richards is adamant it is the latter. He has great ambitions. “I am convinced that if you develop the Aston Martin brand, you will be able to stretch it into areas other than motor cars ... People don’t use Aston Martin to go from A to B but as a statement. It is very much a lifestyle brand. We’ve got to use that more efficiently in future.”
There are preliminary plans for “a whole range of luxury goods” plastered with the two-winged logo. Even private planes and personal pensions are mooted.
Richards, a short, dapper man who is remarkably soft-spoken for his fast-charging persona, is keen to avoid using the word “merchandising”.
“People tend to think about T-shirts and peaked caps ... and I am certainly not thinking about that for Aston Martin!”
Prodrive does produce Aston Martin-emblazoned merchandising, from teddy bears to disposable cameras and spoilers, as part of its tie-up with the company’s rally team, but the plans for the carmaker itself are very different.
Often called the “Richard Branson of motor sports”, Richards invokes the branding kingpin himself to explain his ambitions. “Take Virgin: it stands for something and you can extend that to a whole range of areas ... The potential (for Aston Martin) is enormous.”
Richards, who has become non-executive chairman of Aston Martin, also has plans for the core car-production outfit.
He has pledged support for the management team’s business plan, which includes launching the car used in the latest Bond film, Casino Royale, this October, and a new four-door sports saloon, the Rapide, by 2010.
Analysts expect the latter to cost the new owners between BD60-75 million. The new owners also believe the 1,800-strong workforce at Aston Martin’s state-of-the-art plant in Warwickshire, central England, will increase by 200 within the next few years.
During the interview Richards pledges to continue producing the car in the UK, although he is more reticent about staying with the mainly UK-based suppliers. “If they remain competitive, we will,” he says, stressing that one of the advantages of becoming an independent is the ability to shop around.
Asked how the company can continue to be profitable without a large parent, he cites this ability. “It is a very challenging question ... But it’s got to the point now with a range of product and level of investment that it can be done.”
Ford has retained BD30 million of special preferred shares and is contracted to continue supplying engines.
The two Kuwaiti firms, Investment Dar and Adeem Investment, will own a majority stake.
John Sinders, a former US banker and Aston Martin collector, is the other backer. They have promised “long-term” support, which Richards defines as at least 10 years.
Apart from his own “significant” personal stake, the other owners are foreign, which puts a bit of a kibosh on the flag-waving stories. Richards doesn’t see it like that, pointing out the “car itself is British”.
Besides, with 70 per cent of the 7,000 Aston Martins produced last year being sold overseas, Richards sees foreign ownership as a “vindication”.
The new owners expect to increase overseas sales, particularly in fast-growing economies such as Asia-Pacific and Russia.
The new owners also hope to capitalise on the quintessential Britishness of the brand.
“It has built up a very strong identity with the Bond heritage and the fact that Prince Charles got one for his 21st birthday,” says Richards. “There’s no desire to change that.”
Founded in 1914 by Lionel Martin, Aston Martin was taken over by tractor-maker David Brown in 1947.
The DB5, named for the owner, was driven by the very first 007, Sean Connery, in 1964’s Goldfinger, forever linking it with the archetypal British spy.
The cost of the new DBS model (minus the special defibrillator used to revive Daniel Craig) is BD188,000.
The typical Aston Martin owner tends to be middle-aged and male. Richards says the average age is coming down after the launch of the “more aggressive” Vantage, a sportier, cheaper model at just over BD60,000.
“It’s one of those cars you dream of owning as a schoolboy. Then, typically, you get into middle age and find you have the resources to buy one,” he says.
His brother had just bought himself an Aston Martin for his 50th birthday. Richards himself bought his first one not long after he set up Prodrive.
“Cars fall into two categories. The ones that get you around and the ones that reflect your own persona. I’ve always felt totally in keeping with the style of Aston Martin. It’s classic British engineering but understated. It’s not like a bright red Ferrari.”
He has no plans to introduce a souped- up or a cheaper “entry level” version for those whose riches come earlier. Are there more bankers than footballers among Aston Martin owners? I ask. “I would hope so,” he says, so quietly I have to lean across his acreage of desk.
Aston Martins are very popular, especially among American businessmen.
Just five per cent of the 10,000 or so registered Aston Martin owners are believed to be women. Is this something Richards would like to change? “The position of the product is where it is today and I don’t think we need to change it ... Funnily enough, my wife often refuses to drive mine, saying it looks like she’s driving her husband’s car.”
Richards’ wife, who came in for a sandwich lunch that had to be squeezed out of his packed diary, was later seen to have left in a Porsche. Richards jumps into his private helicopter and is off.