Founded: 1954
Founder(s): Arnold Clark
Currently owned by: The Clark family

Automobile firm Arnold Clark has been going for over 50 years and was founded by Sir Arnold Clark. Clark was jobless after leaving the RAF in 1954 and, to support himself, started repairing and selling cars, with the first showroom opening in the same year in Glasgow’s Park Road. Over time he was joined by his children and grandchildren, adding rentals and dealerships to its operations. The company got its first contract hire client in 1966 and launched insurance services in 1993.

In the 1980s, the firm became the largest car dealer in Scotland, with its first English branch opening in Liverpool in 1994. By the early 2000s it has become a national UK car dealer.

Clark passed away in April 2017 while he was still running the business. His son, John Arnold Clark and the founder’s widow, Philomena Butler Clark, are two of the current board directors in the business.