Member Article

Harrogate motor group acquisitions promise £125m turnover

Harrogate-based Meridian Motor Group has extended its brands portfolio with the arrival of the Lexus and Kia marques following the acquisition of four West Midlands dealerships and the development of a new site in Scarborough.

The acquisitions will see annual group turnover double to £125m.

The moves, which bring the number of Vantage dealerships to twelve, almost doubling its previous size as well as extending its geographic reach, are a signal of the group’s ambition to become a national force.

The West Midlands deals see the Group acquiring four dealerships from Sytner in a transaction that produces an enlarged business selling 9,500 new and used cars a year with an annual turnover of £125m and 300 staff.

Six new central services positions will be created in the Group’s Harrogate head office as a result of the deal.

The expansion into the West Midlands brings the prestige Lexus brand into the group for the first time with a major dealership at Fort Dunlop near Birmingham as well as Toyota centres at Fort Dunlop, Solihull and Tamworth.

Scarborough’s brand new Vantage Kia dealership will be next door to the Group’s existing Toyota centre where it has been operating since 2010.

The dealership is a £350,000 investment by Meridian and will open its doors in late July, creating five new jobs and bringing the increasingly popular Kia marque to motorists in the resort for the first time.

Mark Robinson, managing director, said: “I am delighted that we are able to mark a decade of achievement within the group with these acquisitions and our new development in Scarborough.

“They signal our ambition to become a real national force whilst at the same time retaining those important ‘local business’ qualities which see us operating at the heart of the communities where we are based.”

Meridian was advised on the acquisitions by Ian Gilbert, Judith Pike and Thomas Mieszkowski of law firm Walker Morris, David Chittenden of Colliers International on the property aspects with funding from Toyota Financial Services and NatWest.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mark Lane .