Multi-million pound investments have been made at each location, which he described as a cold-start for each new brand.

The spend is for the long-term – his expectation is for each cold-start to take at least five years to reach boiling point.

Essex Auto Group won’t market its non-Ford brands to existing Ford customers – it wants the buyers for its other brands to be incremental; for those brands to develop on their own merit.

Maskell compares his showrooms to boutique department stores, each benefiting from the broader choice of products on offer and each becoming a destination for a variety of customers.

At Southend, for example, a £1.5m refurbishment means customers enter a central corridor from which Ford, Seat, Fiat and Kia showrooms are all accessible.

Yet all conform to the respective brand’s dealer standards, and each brand has a totem in full view of traffic on the A127 gateway into Southend.

At Rayleigh, the dealership representing Ford, Mazda and Skoda for sales and Jaguar and Volvo for service is in a prime spot beside a major supermarket.

To gain approval for the £4.2m development required close co-operation with the local council – to the extent that Essex Auto Group donated land for the construction of the town’s fire station next door.

Another sign that Maskell ensures the business is visible in its community is its title sponsorship of the Essex Auto Group Graham Gooch Cricket Centre at Chelmsford – exposing its brand to the parents of thousands of cricketing schoolchildren.

“We’re a first generation business, an emerging regional group. We’re not trying to take over the world, and we understand our limitations. To be a strong regional is our ambition.”

Maskell dislikes the term dealer – he describes his business as a genuine retailer, and said private buyers and local SMEs are its typical customer base.

The company is committed to making it easier for the customer to do business. One example is the parking assistant at every Essex Auto Group site.

On arrival at a dealership, the customer is directed to a suitable parking space and welcomed, Maskell admitted that it was a cost for the business.

However, he is convinced the premium-level experience it helps to create is more than worth the investment.

Each dealership has customer wi-fi in the showroom and also has a covered pavilion in its used car forecourt to provide a comfortable environment for browsers.