“The plans for a five-car model range and taking on Ferrari was crazy. If it costs VW Group £1 billion to develop the new Golf, how on earth are you going to spend £750 million producing a five-model sports car range that is going to take on the best in the world? It was never going to happen.

“Having said that, the new Exige is an incredible car. I would imagine the next step is for Lotus to bring out a new Elise and go back to its grass roots and build the business from there. We’re excited about the future with the brand.”

 

‘Nothing on the website is price-led’

Operating from a small rural location means you have to make the most of your marketing budget and have an outstanding digital presence.

Henry said: “Your website is the first thing that anyone will see about you. It is as important as your premises, it’s your shop window.

“I never do sales events and I focus my website the same way. Nothing on the website is price-led.

“I lend everything to lifestyle and I want customers to be enticed to call us.”

Williams’ activities are all linked to Facebook, Twitter and its own blog. The Williams Facebook page has almost 2,000 likes and customers interact with the company through picture and video posts.

Members of the Williams team post about what they’re working on, whether it’s an event or a car. The company posts about bespoke work it does for customers and said sales lead naturally from that.

Henry said: “One particular customer wanted to be able to do conference calls from his car, which was also fitted with sports exhausts.

“We did it and I put a video up on Facebook. Not to say ‘look you can buy one too’, but it was more about showing that a customer asked us to do something and we did it for them.

“I then had people ringing me up to ask for the upgrade too.”

 

Relationship with Morgan

Charles Morgan, the public face of the Morgan brand, was ousted from the company last year amid much mystery.

The exit hasn’t affected Williams, says Henry Williams: “Charles moving from Morgan hasn’t affected us at all.

“He was the brand ambassador for Morgan, it’s still a family company, but we’ll never know what really happened behind the scenes.”

Williams has a direct relationship with Morgan managing director Steve Morris,who understands how much passion Williams has for the brand.

Henry said: “We’ve got the same main goal, to sell cars and deal with new customers.

“I’m on the international dealer association for Morgan and I help advise them with any issues.”

Williams was recently chosen by Morgan to host a three-day training course for Morgan China to show them how they do things.