Ashby Nub News aims to support our community, promoting shops, businesses, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We will be profiling businesses and organisations who have a story to tell in a regular feature called Up Close in Ashby.

For today's 'Up Close' we spoke with Tom Hartley Jnr, owner of the classic and performance car company Tom Hartley Jnr Ltd, based at the Ivanhoe Business Park.

Last week, Tom Hartley Jnr was named in the Sunday Times Top Track 250 table which ranks Britain's leading mid-market private companies with the biggest sales.

It is compiled by Fast Track and published in The Sunday Times each September.

Tom Hartley Jnr is listed at No187 with sales exceeding £132million, an operating profit of £8.7million - but with staff numbers of just 10, the lowest of all of the 250 companies listed.

First of all, we asked Tom about that.

Ashby Nub News... "It's fantastic to get a listing like that for the company, but it also seems as though you have done it with small staff numbers

Tom Hartley Jnr: "In total there are 10 of us here, so it's quite a small team, and that's something I'm very proud of, because it shows how well the whole team performs."

...Could you give me a few details about your history?

"I've been in the business all of my life, since I was 11 years old.

"I grew up in my father's business, then it was me and my father in partnership together, then me and my father and my brother.

"In 2014, I decided to separate and launch my own independent enterprise. In a short space of time, it's been fantastic, the business has done tremendously well.

"A couple of years ago, we were the recipient of a Queen's Award for our international trade, which is the highest accolade any business can receive in the UK, that's something we were extremely proud of.

"And at the end of last month, we were in the Sunday Times Top Track 250. Which was great for us."

…Were you expecting that?

"They only notified us on the Friday beforehand. It's another accolade, and good that we are putting Ashby de la Zouch on the map; I love it when we go all around the world and people say: 'Where are you based?" and I say Ashby de la Zouch. They always reply: 'Wow, that's a fantastic name, where is that?'

"So we try and do our bit for the area."

...You have an office and showroom in Ashby?

"Yes that's where we are based, at the Ivanhoe Business Park. We moved here a couple of years ago."

… I love the cars you have here. They are quite incredible.

"They are some of the greatest cars in the world. In the last couple of years alone, we've been responsible for most of all of the highest price sales, the most valuable cars sold - they've gone through here."

… Let's be clear, these cars sell for millions?

"We sell some cars for north of £50 million. At the moment, if you came to our showroom you'd see cars selling for £15million. We sell the most valuable cars in the world. There are cars that sell for tens of millions, but I can't talk about specific models. Discretion is very important in my world."

… You must have some very well known customers?

"We are talking high-profile business people, but, again, discretion for us is paramount."

… Could you give me an idea of the types of cars you sell?

"It's very collectable cars. Sometimes it might not be the most expensive car, we could sell the lowest mileage Mini Cooper, or a very special collectable Land Rover Defender. The business specialises in selling collectable cars."