Thursday, December 13, 2012
Vertu gets Nidd Vale Vauxhall
Vertu Motors is to take over the Vauxhall franchise for Harrogate left vacant by the collapse of Nidd Vale Motors. The group said it paid the administrators £0.8m for the business with no goodwill element.
The acquisition will mean Vertu has a portfolio of 12 Vauxhall dealerships and follows the expansion of its Honda business with the recent purchase of Springfield Cars.
The move means that, as predicted the Nidd Vale business will be broken into its three separate franchises.
It is understood that Pendragon is favoured to take over the Seat business, which would give the UK’s largest auto retail group a foothold in the Volkswagen Group for the first time. The future of the Mazda franchise remains unclear and there are some indications that it may close for the immediate future.
Vertu Motors will begin trading under its Bristol Street Motors brand from the current Leeds Road site immediately and will begin work building a new dealership on a site which has already been identified in nearby Knaresborough. That is expected to take about 12 months.
The existing premises have been sold with planning permission for a Marks & Spencer store.
Nidd Vale, one of the best known auto retailers in Yorkshire, effectively ceased trading just over a week ago. Staff at the main dealership site in Harrogate told us they were no longer taking orders for new cars or aftersales bookings. However, they were still taking customer names and contact details and we were told they were “awaiting a buy-out”.
DATED: 13.12.12
FEED: ARN
