Brand Pretorius
Regarded locally and internationally as a world-class business leader, Brand Pretorius' talks and presentations are aimed at sharing what he has learnt and through that he hopes that his key messages might also benefit those in the audience.
Mr. Pretorius' business career had its origin at Toyota South Africa in March 1973. Following a number of management positions in research, planning, sales and marketing, he was appointed managing director of Toyota SA Marketing in 1988. Under his guidance Toyota became the market leader in terms of both sales and customer satisfaction.
In 1995 he joined South Africa’s largest motor retail group, McCarthy Motor Holdings, as chief executive and 4 years later was promoted to the position of Chief Executive Officer of McCarthy Limited, the holding company of McCarthy Motor Holdings. The group currently employs 7 000 people, has an annual turnover in excess of R18bn and boasts extensive interests in motor retailing, auctioneering, car rental, vehicle insurance and financing. It sells approximately 75 000 new and used vehicles annually.
He currently serves on the boards of the ABSA Group, Amalgamated Automobile Distributors, as well as Bidvest, of which McCarthy’s is a division. His responsibilities within the McCarthy group entail the chairmanship of McCarthy Insurance Services and Budget Rent a Car as well as directorships of Yamaha Distributors and Bidvest Financial Services. An honorary professorship in Business Management was conferred on him in May 1991 by the University of the Free State and in May 2001, by the University of Johannesburg, as well. He was appointed a Fellow at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in November 2007. Brand is a member of the main board of the National Business Initiative, the READ Educational Trust Board of Trustees, the advisory board of the University of Stellenbosch Business School and is the immediate past president of the South African Retail Motor Industry Organisation. He was appointed as an ambassador of the SA Valued Citizens Initiative in May 2008 and in November 2009 as a Visiting Executive at the Centre for Responsible Leadership at the University of Pretoria.
National awards attained by Mr. Pretorius include Junior Businessman of the Year (1985), Communicator of the Year and Best Boss (1994), Automobile Man of the Year, the Manpower award of Excellence (1995) and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Business Communication by the SA Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (1997). In October 1998 the research company Integrity Profiles International identified him as one of the top 5 “high integrity” business leaders in South Africa. He received an Honorary Fellowship from the South African Institute of Marketing Management in November 1998. In a survey by Professional Management Review in 1999, he was identified as the most admired leader in the Motor Industry by a representative panel comprising chief executives, fleet managers and motoring journalists. This award was bestowed on him again a year later. The same year, marketing magazine “The Future” identified him through reader research as one of South Africa’s three most prominent marketers of the past decade.
Also in 2000, he was named "Marketing Person of the Year" by The South African Institute of Marketing Management. In 2002 he received a certificate of excellence from the READ Educational Trust for his remarkable commitment to the cause of building a literate nation through the Rally to Read project, a national social investment project which was initiated in 1998 and still runs today.
The publishers of the South African Automotive Year Book bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award on him in 2003, for outstanding service to the motor industry. He became a member of the SA Automotive Industry’s “Hall of Fame” in March 2006, in recognition of his significant contribution to the industry. In June 2006 he was honoured by the Leadership Forum at their annual CEO Summit for his contribution towards leadership thinking and in particular, leadership ethics. South African marketers identified him in September 2006 as a marketing thought leader and as one of the top three business leaders who have contributed most to the success of their organisations, according to a national survey by Markinor and Brand Leadership. In the annual Trust Barometer opinion survey amongst company directors by the research company Ask Afrika, he was recognised in August 2009 as the most trusted leader in the South African motor industry.
His top talk topics, locally and Internationally include:
• The role the business sector can play to bring about a more prosperous South Africa.
• Guidelines for business success in a rapidly changing South Africa.
• The key lessons I have learnt during my career in business.
• Guidelines for effective leadership.
• Inspirational leadership – how to optimise passion, motivation and commitment – and
• Servant leadership – is it effective in tough times?
• Key leadership lessons I have learnt.
• How to optimise customer satisfaction and retention.
• Guidelines for a successful sales and service organisation.
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