Mark Casci: What we can all learn from business legends like Jack Tordoff

On Friday night a ballroom full of Yorkshire's top business people rose to its feet to honour one of the region's most respected and revered figures in the shape of JCT600's Jack Tordoff.
Jack Tordoff , Individual Award for Excellence, presented by Mark Casci.
Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards 2016.  New Dock Hall.  4 November 2016.  Picture Bruce RollinsonJack Tordoff , Individual Award for Excellence, presented by Mark Casci.
Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards 2016.  New Dock Hall.  4 November 2016.  Picture Bruce Rollinson
Jack Tordoff , Individual Award for Excellence, presented by Mark Casci. Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards 2016. New Dock Hall. 4 November 2016. Picture Bruce Rollinson

The Bradford-born business leader, whose company has turned 70 years old, was the recipient of The Yorkshire Post’s Excellence in Business Awards’ Excellence Award in recognition of the motor retailing group which bares his name and today turns over more than £1bn.

The much-loved octogenarian, who still serves as the company’s chairman, earned a standing ovation for telling the audience his secret to business success:

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“You have just got to work hard, I mean work very hard. I used to work seven days a week at one time, but it didn’t bother me because I wanted to be a winner.

“And it turned out you do eventually get to be a winner if you work hard enough.”

Mr Tordoff is a giant of a businessman.

His company is operating across more than 50 locations and is today headed by his son, John, who has carried on his father’s proud tradition of excellence, taking JCT600 to the next level.

He follows in the footsteps of the likes of Sir Ken Morrison and Sir Gary Verity in picking up the landmark award, which honours a lifetime of outstanding contribution towards Yorkshire’s economic success. To see him honoured with such affection by the crowd was for myself the highlight of what was a great evening.

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It was not just Jack’s palpable emotion at receiving the award. It was more what the moment represented.

Success has never come to somebody by accident.

Behind the glory has always been years and years of hard toil, a drive to beat one’s competitors and stand out from the pack.

Such a pursuit is naturally all-consuming, as Mr Tordoff’s seven-days-a-week routine bears testimony.

For most of us our careers are not a means to an end to support ourselves and our families, but rather a vocation to which we are helplessly devoted.

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However, as our companies large and small work hard to achieve their own greatness, I could not help but feel that everyone, whether it is Jack Tordoff or the small business owner in his or her first year, should try and take at least some time to reflect on just what they have achieved so far in their career.

After all, what is the point in success if you cannot look back and appreciate it?

Awards like the Excellence in Business evening help to do just this.

In my first year as The Yorkshire Post’s business editor, I have quickly gained an understanding of just what these events mean to business men and women.

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To see the joy on winners’ faces as they arrived on stage to accept their trophy was a privilege.

Events like this are more than seeking validation and praise for one’s endeavours, it is about having a chance to have often a lifetime of work and ideas given the respect it deserves.

The reality is that among the audience at New Dock Hall in Leeds that night, and in offices factories and laboratories across Yorkshire, there are thousands more budding Jack Tordoffs, all quietly building their own empires.

Some will earn their own trophies, their glories and their plaudits, some will not.

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The important thing is that business is given the time to reflect on what it has achieved.

The nature of commerce is that you are always looking ahead to the next challenge, the next battle, the next problem.

However, the region should be proud of the road travelled thus far.

In the meantime, I think the example of Mr Tordoff’s career is a wonderful one for us all to aspire to.

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