Marshall buys three DeVries dealerships

The three new businesses in Hull, York and Scarborough generated £38m in turnover in 2007 and sold 2,500 new and used cars.

Prior to the takeover, Marshall was ranked number 17 in the Motor Trader Top 200 dealer groups with a turnover of £435.2m.

Administrator Grant Thornton had been working closely with Honda UK to find buyers for the dealerships. It had been talking to parties with a view to selling the dealerships as going concerns.

Marshall chief executive, Daksh Gupta said: "This is a really exciting step for
Marshall and it fits well with our stated strategy to look for good business
opportunities which are scaleable.

"Honda is an important franchise partner for Marshall and we know and understand the brand well. We have been very grateful to Honda for their important support in concluding this deal. Honda is a key partner for Marshall."

Gupta said the Scarborough dealership was the number one Honda outlet in the UK for customer satisfaction.

The new businesses will report to franchise director Mark Furniss who, like Gupta, recently joined Marshall.

In December, Gupta restructured the Marshall management team and changed the way it runs its business, moving away from its traditional regional based structure to a franchise system, with new directors coming on board.

A the time, Gupta said the company was debt-free, with "substantial resources" and backing from its family shareholders, who were " keen to invest in the development and growth of their businesses".

All de Vries staff working for the Honda franchised dealerships in York, Scarborough and Hull will transfer to Marshall.

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form