People in Business – Gerry Halloran

When Gerry Halloran received a call from Michael Barry, head of Motorpark, in early 2000 asking him to meet in Galway he thought it could only be bad news.

‘I was National Manager of Vehicle Finance for Lombard & Ulster at the time and Motorpark was one of our biggest clients outside of Dublin,’ recall Gerry.

‘I thought that Michael wanted to meet to break the news that they were cancelling their contract with us.

‘Instead he offered me the job of General Manager at Motorpark.

Gerry was commuting between Dublin and Galway at the time and he jumped at the chance to settle back into a more regular family life in Galway and to move into the motor trade, an industry he had worked with, but not in, since he left school.

He started out as a clerk with PMPA in his hometown, Ballina, and found that motor insurance, cars and Gerry got on well together so over the following five years he progressed his career with PMPA.

In 1984 he became a sales rep for Lombard & Ulster based in Letterkenny, covering all of Donegal.

His remit was to sell HP and leasing to finance the purchase of machinery, domestic goods, vehicles and anything else that needed financing.

‘I had an excellent manager there who encouraged us to solve problems on our own and gave us responsibility at a young age,’ remembers Gerry.

‘I also learned a lot from my customers who were self-reliant, astute business people which gave me a real lesson in the value of building long-term relationships with people.

After seven years in Donegal. Gerry was appointed Manager of Lombard & Ulster in Galway and two years later he became Area Manager for the West of Ireland.

In 1997 he took on the role of National Manager for Vehicle Finance, based in Dublin.

His family remained in Galway as his wife Gráinne has a career with AIB and his children were settled in school, so Gerry commuted to Dublin every week.

Then came that call from Michael Barry which brought him back to work in Galway in March 2000.

Motorpark was one of the biggest dealers outside of Dublin with franchises for BMW, Mini, Mitsubishi, Honda and of course Ford.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.