RACE horse owner Roger Peel admits the going has been heavy for businesses during the recession.

But the dealer principal at Brighouse-based Northern Commercials is betting his company will overcome any remaining hurdles as the economy starts to pick up.

“This recession has been worse than any others,” he says.

But he adds: “In January, we opened our used vehicle centre when most people were trying to downsize.

“The reason is that we see the used vehicle market as the first to recover.

“We are positive about going forward, but it is going to be a steady recovery.

“It is not going to happen overnight.

“It is going to be a three-year recovery to get back to the position the economy was in before the credit crunch.”

Mirfield-born Roger says Northern Commercials had been less badly hit than some companies by the deep downturn because it took action early to bring its costs under control.

“We are now ready to run when the economy picks up,” he says.

Roger’s confidence is based on more than 30 years experience in the truck sales sector.

He started with Northern Commercials on a Youth Training Scheme in the parts department and after serving an apprenticeship progressed through the service department to become in turn service administration manager, sales administration manager, parts manager and after-sales director.

He recalls: “At the age of 11, I used to work on my brother’s milk round and in the evenings I worked on a local farm.

“I left school with no qualifications – I just wanted to work. I was offered three jobs and one was a YTS.

“I had no interest in vehicles before I walked through the door. I was more interested in farming.”

But he has always had ambition.

“When I was on the YTS, I wanted to be set on full-time,” he says.

“ When I was a supervisor I wanted to be a manager.

“And when I became a manager, I wanted to own the company.

Roger duly became a shareholder in the business and when Northern Commercials was sold to The Clipper Group in 2005, he was asked to stay on as dealer principal.

“My place is here with my staff,” he says.

“I didn’t want to go anywhere else.

“When they asked me to stay, I said I would as long as they let me run it as I wanted.

“That’s how it has been since. Clipper bought the business because it was successful – and it still is.”

Northern Commercials began in 1973 as a Leyland DAF dealer – but when that manufacturer collapsed in 1993, the Brighouse firm found its salvation in becoming a franchisee for Iveco.

Says Roger: “It was a culture shock.

“We went from having a product we knew to a product we didn’t.

“We went from a £3m parts holding to nothing. Still we carried on selling Leyland ‘bits’ until we built up the Iveco business.”

Now Northern Commercials is sole Iveco dealer for West Yorkshire and has a retail van centre in Leeds to complement its new and used vehicles business in Brighouse.

In April this year, the firm was also appointed Iveco dealer for the north-west – covering Manchester, Liverpool, Stockport, Bolton, Chester and the Isle of Man.

It also provides vehicles for haulage and logistics firms, including Hill Hire, Bedfords, Brocklehurst, Nelsons and Sam’s Transport as well supplying chassis for companies such as IRS Motor Home and Access Hire. In total it has up to 350 vehicles on “live contracts”.

Under Roger’s leadership, Northern Commercials has achieved annual sales of about £100m and employs 200 people across all its sites.

Roger is at the heart of Iveco’s relationships with its franchises – sitting on the national panel for the Iveco National Dealer Council.

“We are a very well-respected dealership,” he says. “We are above Iveco’s national average in all sectors.”

Part of the success of Northern Commercials is down to Roger’s management style and experience gained in all areas of its operations.

“I visit each of our sites every week,” he says.

“The first thing I do every morning is to look in at the garage here at Brighouse.

“I make sure I know everyone’s name and what’s going on.”

Roger’s leisure time is devoted to children Elliot, 13, Spencer, seven, and two-year-old Savannah – and his four-legged friend.

“I have a hospitality box at the Galpharm Stadium to watch Huddersfield Town and take the family along,” he says.

“But my biggest passion is horse racing. I have owned a number of horses. Currently, I have a horse called Go Maggie Go – named after my mother-in-law, Margaret!”

The filly, which is stabled at Thirsk, has had a number of outings on the flat, but has yet to win a race.

Roger, who got a taste for the turf when his father used to place small wagers at the local bookies, believes it’s only a matter of time before Go Maggie Go crosses the finishing line a winner

“I got interested in horse racing when I was young,” says Roger. “My father used to go to the bookies to put 20p on a horse.

“Now I go racing to York, Chester and Royal Ascot.

“It is an expensive hobby running a racehorse, but it’s a wonderful hobby. You can’t beat a day at the races.”