In praise of BMW's employment policy

To some this may seem kind of trivial, but to me and perhaps others groundbreaking and uplifting.

Last weekend I took my eight year old son for a Supercar Saturday. This meant going to central London and visiting supercar showrooms. Due to car games on Ipad apps, my son and his friends know every supercar known to man, and woman including: Bugatti Veron, Pagini Zonda, Lamborgini Aventador, the new Porche 928 and of course the prancing horse of the Ferrari.

First stop was Jack Barclay, on Berkely Sqare with their array of Bentley’s and the show stopping Bugattis. Then across the road to the Porche showroom where the young female assistant sat my son in a 911 convertible and then packed him off with a Porche goody bag. 'If I'm really good dad do you think they might give me a real car at the next showroom ?' he inquired.

Our next port of call was Park Lane, I had always remembered seeing a number of super car showrooms down there. To my amazement the only showroom we saw was that of BMW. Given that the only cars on show there were their near all-glass concept electrical cars, I thought my son would not be interested. I was wrong. ‘Wow dad, look at that cool concept car.’ His words not mine. ‘Can we go inside?’

It was a packed showroom. It must have been a special launch day, but what struck me much more than the beauty of BMW’s electronic masterpiece, was the make up of the staff. At least four of the six sales team working in London's famed Park lane on their most prestigious car were either African/ Caribbean or Asian, including the manager. I told the young African assistant that I was just looking, after he reeled off some of the car's groundbreaking features. ‘ You go ahead and have a look sir’, he politely said, ‘ you never know you might just change your mind.’ Polite and impressive, I thought.

We had a great supercar day out, and whilst my son will probably remember most the oil-rich Arab young men driving the ‘Lambos’ at high revs around Harrods, I’ll remember going into a top class car showroom and seeing Black staff not as porters or cleaners but as head sales assistants, men and women. Oh, and car wasn’t bad either.

Simon Woolley