Lookers chief executive Mark Raban claims to be a numbers man, who likes “to stick with my knitting” by nature.

But, after leading the once troubled PLC’s revival through the sector’s most turbulent period outside war time, it is clear that he has learnt to embrace change as he tells AM that the group is poised to “try something different” with its newly-mapped growth strategy.

In his two years at the helm, Raban has navigated Lookers through a cost-cutting restructure which cut a total of 27 retail sites and significant headcount from the one-time AM100-topping car retail group.

He has also guided the business through a period which saw a fraud probe identify a £19 million black hole in the group’s accounts, a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigation scrutinise its compliance procedures and the business de-listed from the London Stock Exchange due to the late submission of its accounts in 2019.

Now things appear to be on an even keel, but record profitability and a new direction mapped-out for the group seems unlikely to illicit a slowing of the pace of activity.