Bentley puts a bar where the reception desk was

A welcome instead of a sales desk

On 24 September 2026, the day after the launch of Torcal, its first fully electric model line, Bentley Motors unveils a new concept for its showrooms.¹ The press release calls it "a new brand vision for Bentley Motors and its retailers". The concept makes its debut at Jack Barclay in London and is to shape the customer experience across Bentley's network of more than 220 retailers in over 60 markets.¹

The most visible change comes at the door. Inside, according to Bentley, "a curved glass entry leads customers towards a bar, replacing the traditional reception desk with a more informal hospitality-inspired arrival."¹ Christophe Georges, Bentley's Board Member for Sales and Marketing, describes a showroom "that feels less like a traditional automotive showroom and more like one curated for hospitality."¹

The concept was developed with the brand consultancy FutureBrand. Creative Boom reports a brief that was "to make it feel more like hospitality", and Bentley's own wish to mirror the "calm sophistication of one of its own interiors".² George Gottl, chief creative officer of spatial design at FutureBrand, describes an experience "that brings architecture, digital, craft and service into one Bentley world."²

Lounges instead of rows

The familiar car showroom is built for display: cars lined up behind large windows, salespeople at desks, a floor that could be anywhere. Creative Boom describes exactly that picture as the thing the new concept leaves behind.² In Bentley's version, visitors pass from the welcome bar through a sequence of lounges and what FutureBrand calls lifestyle moments, with the cars placed among them.²

At the centre of each space sits the Atelier, which according to Bentley brings "the craftsmanship found in Bentley's Crewe factory into the retailer".¹ Customers explore leathers, veneers, finishes and colours around a central table,² and a 3D configurator connected to an LED wall lets them move between the physical samples and a digital picture of their car "as their individual commission comes to life."¹ A separate handover room, which FutureBrand calls the Living Theatre, replaces the traditional handover with what it describes as a "multi-sensory reveal", using lighting, screens and personalised media.²

The sequence follows the logic of a hotel rather than a dealership. A guest is received, offered a drink, seated, and only then shown what the house can do. The sales conversation does not disappear, but it moves into rooms designed for staying.

The brand's codes in the room

The architecture carries the signs of the marque. Curved forms take their inspiration from the winged logo, the diamond motif appears throughout the architecture and materials, and Bentley Green runs through the space as a recurring thread.¹ From the street, a new façade with integrated lighting and a reimagined version of the diamond pattern marks the building as Bentley's.¹ Inside, light is treated as "a 'fourth material'", guiding customers through the rooms.¹

The diamond, according to Creative Boom, recalls the matrix grille and the quilted interiors of the cars.² The winged forms connect the rooms to the redesigned Winged B that Bentley presented in July 2025, only the fifth version of the emblem in the company's history.³ FutureBrand built the concept as a flexible system that can be applied to spaces of different sizes, so the same codes can reach a city flagship and a smaller regional retailer.²

The retailer as the brand's front room

Many of the places where customers meet the brand are run by retail partners. Jack Barclay, established in 1927 and named after the 1920s Bentley racing driver Jack Barclay, is the oldest Bentley retailer in the world and is operated by H.R. Owen, the luxury dealer group.¹ Richard Leopold, Regional Director for EMEA, says strategic investment by these partners "is fundamental to Bentley's long-term success in the UK."¹

That makes the showroom one of the few points where Bentley can stage the brand directly. "Our retailers are one of the most important physical expressions of Bentley," Georges says, "and this new concept fundamentally rethinks how customers experience our brand in-person."¹ The idea extends a line Bentley has drawn since 2024, when its global campaign "How do you Bentley?" presented the brand as a way of living rather than only a car.⁴ The showroom now gives that idea a physical address.

The timing adds a second reading. Bentley plans to be exclusively electric from 2035, and the concept arrives the day after its first fully electric model.¹ As the engine recedes as a point of difference, the brand's case rests more on craft, personalisation and service, precisely the things the Atelier, the bar and the handover room are built to show. The retail concept presents Bentley as a host before it presents it as a carmaker.