Ambulance driver sells 10,000 cars in his spare time

A Northumberland man has racked up a staggering 10,000 car sales, all while holding down a full-time job as an ambulance driver and paramedic.

Alnwick-born Ronnie Black, 64, filled most of his days saving lives with the North East Ambulance Service, but between busy shifts, the grandfather of two routinely topped the sales charts at Blackshaws Nissan in Alnwick, a family-run dealership.

Mr Black retired from his role as a paramedic after 29 years and went full time at Blackshaws in 2007. Now, approaching his 30th year of service with the dealership, he has soared past the 10,000-sales mark. During his time with the company, that equates to one car sold almost every day – a figure most car salesmen would flog their grandmothers for.

Although records showing Ronnie’s earliest sales have been lost, those that remain show he’s now slowed down with age. His best month ever was March 2012, during which he sold an impressive 63 cars. 2012 was his best year with a total of 408 cars sold.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed both my careers and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on either,” said Ronnie. “They’ve both been really rewarding in different ways. I’ve always liked working hard and when I was working shifts on the ambulance, I’d get home and everyone else would be at work. I couldn’t face just sitting at home doing nothing so I decided to get another job.”

“To begin with I never intended to be doing it for so long but I’ve had great fun along the way and so I’ve just kept going.”

Some of Ronnie’s sales highlights include selling a car to a young woman he delivered as a baby, selling a vehicle to a man who paid entirely in coins and selling a car to a man whose life he saved following a traffic accident.