You know, if I have to be honest, I don't foresee many publications living through the next five years. It's a tough environment for the publishers.
Unless you have great content — this isn't a problem for the UK's Autocar.
There's nothing quite like when the magazine goes behind the scenes at Europe's largest Bentley service center. That's because there's tales that almost seem more like an urban myth.
Also, it is fascinating to understand what high-end marques' service centers — and advisors — must contend with. Long story short, it goes well beyond a customer's Mulsanne or Flying Spur.
See what I mean by the snippet below. The full story is available by clicking "Read Article."
The team at Jack Barclay Bentley has big shoes to fill, but not in the way you might think. Such is the aftersales centre’s commitment to its high-flying customers, it once fulfilled a request from a “Saudi Arabian client” (read: sheikh) to pay for and collect his son’s extra-large made-to-order shoes from a shop in Mayfair, and deliver them to a family member ahead of said person’s flight to Saudi that same day.
These sorts of stories are rife for Shahzad Alvi, service manager at Jack Barclay Bentley’s aftersales centre in Wandsworth, London. He’s charmingly discreet – as he must be with such an elite customer base – but does tell us that clients include “royal families, dignitaries and celebrities”.
Another outlandish request, far beyond the remit of servicing a car, came from a long-standing Libyan client. Once based in London, he moved to Spain and asked Alvi to sell his flat, giving him power of attorney to do so. Alvi explains: “Years before, I needed spinal surgery and this customer said ‘book any hospital and I’ll pay for it’. I declined, of course, but the gesture meant more to me than anything else. The flat sold for £1 million and I didn’t take a cut..."
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