Member Article

Brayleys expands regional car dealer group during lockdown

Hertfordshire-based car dealer group, Brayleys, has grown its portfolio during the lockdown with the purchase of Essex located Romford Honda from dealer group Glyn Hopkin, for an undisclosed sum. The company’s latest acquisition positions it as one of the biggest Honda franchisees in the UK with eight showrooms and nine aftersales outlets.

The Romford business joins the existing Brayley Honda dealerships in Enfield, St Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Ruislip, Thames Ditton, Ewell and Leatherhead, plus a stand-alone aftersales facility in Grays, Essex. The latest addition will trade as Brayley Honda, under the group’s Honda Franchise Division.

In additional to its eight Honda dealerships, Brayleys also represents Kia, Mazda, Renault and Dacia at 15 sales points throughout the Home Counties, Greater London and Thames Valley.

Having founded Brayleys 17 years ago with a single Honda outlet in St Albans, Managing Director Paul Brayley continues to run the business, having sold a majority shareholding to Dubai-based AW Rostamani Group at the end of 2018, which heralded the conglomerate’s entry into the UK automotive sector.

Commenting on the acquisition of Romford Honda, Brayleys Managing Director, Paul Brayley, said:

“Over the past nine years Glyn Hopkin has developed the Romford Honda business into a successful retailer and our aim is to continue building on this foundation, whilst drawing on our own award-winning experience of representing Honda across the Southeast and Home Counties with class-leading facilities and customer service. As we come out of the pandemic lockdown with confidence, I am looking forward to welcoming the team at Romford Honda into the Brayleys family and further strengthening our partnership with the Honda brand.

“In partnership with AW Rostamani Group, Brayleys will continue exploring opportunities that are complementary to our combined growth strategy and manufacturer product cycles. Honda will see several new hybrid and pure electric model launches in the coming months, starting with the all new Honda Jazz and Jazz Crosstar.”

Khalid Al Rostamani, Chairman and CEO of AW Rostamani Group said:

“The acquisition of Romford Honda marks a further step forward in our strategy to build our automotive retail interests in the UK, which is a key market for AW Rostamani Group. In developing Brayleys with Paul and his team, we will continue to assess the right opportunities for future investment, which fit with our vision for growth.”

With annual revenues in excess of $2billion, AW Rostamani Group operates in a number of industry sectors across the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Its flagship subsidiary, AWR Arabian Automobiles, is the exclusive distributor for Nissan, Infiniti and Renault in Dubai and Northern Emirates, totalling 21 showrooms and 16 service centres. Its expansion into the UK with a majority stake in Brayleys in 2018 formed part of the organisation’s goal to strengthen its global footprint through strategic acquisitions.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Blackbird Communications .