Nidd Vale Motors in Harrogate has now transitioned into ownership under the Vertu Group plc and has been re-branded to Bristol Street Motors. The business has also changed, with a focus being placed on the Vauxhall dealership.
Robert Forrester is the CEO of Vertu, he was previously a director of Reg Vardy plc, joined Vertu in 2001 and promoted to CEO following the sale of the business to Pendragon plc in 2006.
Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu Motors plc said::
This purchase works well for Vertu as it gives us a presence in an area that we previously didn’t cover. Broadly speaking location-wise it sits between our other dealerships.
From a business point of view having a number of brands from a single site is difficult to manage so we took the decision to place our focus on Vauxhall.
Vauxhall has a strong product line and it allows us to use the extensive experience of Vauxhall within the Nidd Vale business.
People can still bring their other vehicles, such as those from Seat, Saab and Mazda for maintenance or repair as we will be keeping that expertise.
The changes has also seen the closure of the Wetherby showroom and the extension of the lease on the Leeds Road site, delaying the redevelopment of the site to an M&S food store.
Robert Forrester said:
We are looking to move to St Jame’s Park in Knaresborough within the next 12 months. This will allow us to centralise both car sales and servicing.
Moving to a purpose designed and built premises will help the business operate and also benefit customers – the customer experience will so much better.
We have kept most of the previous management team, but they now have the support of the Vertu divisional team.
It has certainly been a very difficult few weeks, we have retained 51 jobs and are now focusing on the future and developing the business.
We have the right team in place and people should feel confident in coming back to us.
Vertu Motors plc is the 7th largest automotive retailer in the UK. The Group was founded in late 2006 and now operates 75 sales outlets predominantly under the Bristol Street Motors and Macklin Motors brands.
www.bristolstreet.co.uk/find-a-dealer/vauxhall-harrogate/
