Sam Henry

Singer Vehicle Design was founded in Los Angeles, California in 2009 and now also has operations in the UK and Switzerland. Singer’s services enable owners of classic Porsche 911s to restore their cars, with the ability to personalise almost every detail, from hand-stitched leather and upholstery to custom paint work and mechanical upgrades. The US operation has been featured by BBC Top Gear and the waiting list for a car can be up to four years, such is the demand from people who want a reimagined Porsche 911.

Sam, who graduated from Keele in 2011 with a degree in Business Economics, is currently the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, having previously worked at McLaren Automotive.

He said: “When I left Keele I wanted to work for one of the big four accounting firms, because I knew it would standout on my CV, and I got a role at KPMG as a trainee consultant. It was a great experience with fantastic training programmes for staff, which is what I wanted at that stage in my career.

“I did that job for a couple of years and then started to look at positions in engineering, automotive and aerospace, and I applied for a sales planning analyst role at McLaren and got the job. I then became a Regional Sales Manager, where I was living in New York and managing 14 dealers down the East Coast of the USA, and also Canada, which was a great job and involved a lot of travel. After 4 years I moved back to the UK and took up the role of Head of Strategy & Planning. In my 7 years at McLaren, we went from selling around 800 cars a year to 4,500, so it was an exciting period to be working there.” 

Sam joined Singer in 2020 and has seen the company grow from 70 staff to 650 at present. In his role as Vice-President, Commercial, Sam manages an international team of 45 people covering areas including business planning, sales, client experience, aftersales and design and specification.  

He said: “Our biggest market is the United States, followed by the UK and Australia. Our clients love restoring their cars with us, and because the projects take years to complete, you get to know them personally during the process. We have had clients immediately want to restore another car with us as soon as their first is complete because they enjoy the journey as much as the finished product. The price of our services ranges from $1m to $3m and each car is restored uniquely for its owner, with endless optionality and opportunities for personalization. 

“I’ve been with Singer for four years now and it’s been fantastic to be involved in the growth of the company. My degree in business economics at Keele was broad enough to give me a good understanding of lots of areas, such as macroeconomics, which is a big part of what I do now, and trying to understand market trends and market forces. It was a great starting block for my career and I’ve got a lot of happy memories of my time at the University.”