Major car dealership with over 120 locations to close branch ‘imminently' after more than 50 years

The Sun

5 days ago

A POPULAR car dealership with over 120 locations has announced it is closing a branch after 50 years.
Lookers is set to close its head office in Altrincham, after being based in Greater Manchester since 1973.
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Rumours had been circulating that staff would be made redundant, but managing director James Brearley assured that this is not true.
Instead, around 12 members of staff will be relocated to another Lookers site, in Stoke-on-Trent.
Addressing the rumours, Mr Brearley told Car Dealer: "That is categorically not true and it's important we put the record straight," he said.
"The Altrincham site will be closing imminently but that effects 12 staff all of whom will be moving to another of our site's in Stoke on Trent.
"There will be no redundancies."
Lookers was taken over by Canadian company Global Auto Holdings in October 2023, in a deal worth £504 million.
Following the takeover, a number of redundancies were made by the new owners.
Lookers was founded in 1908 as a bicycle seller and eventually switched to cars.
By the 1960s, it was one of the leading chains, alongside Pendragon, Inchcape and Marshall.
The dealership was hit hard by the pandemic, and axed 1500 jobs in 2020.
Major UK car dealership closes down
This comes after another car dealership, TC Harrison Ford in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, closed its doors for the last time earlier this month.
The closure was confirmed after planners granted permission for a new retirement village to be built on the dealership's site last year.
TC Harrison confirmed last month that the dealership would close on May 16, 2025.
Happily, there will be no job losses following the closure, with all business activities and staff to relocate to the the firm's Huntingdon branch, just 11 miles away.
Why are so many car dealerships closing down?
By Summer Raemason
According to Business Rescue Expert there are multiple reasons why car dealerships are folding across the UK.
The first major factor is rising online car sales which are beating in-person sales at dealerships.
With an extensive range of comparison and second-hand sites to chose from, may car buyers don't even step foot into a dealership anymore.
Secondly, the actual cost to physically run the sites has soared.
Rent, wages and energy bills have all been increasing for roughly the past five years, putting many out of pocket.
Car manufacturing across the globe was also hit by a semiconductor chip shortage in 2022 which made it difficult to produce new motors.
The high demand with limited supply created a backlog, which although has eased, is still having an impact on the industry.
A third reason for recent closures is the shift to electric cars.
They are becoming more popular, given the Government initiative to be Net Zero in 2050.
The industry is also affected when companies merge or are bought by rivals.
This may lead to some independent names falling victim to the ongoing spate of closures.
And a huge car dealership with over 91,000 vehicles currently on sale will close within weeks putting over 100 jobs at risk.
The German online used car marketplace has made heavy losses since opening in the UK in 2019 when it looked to rival Auto Trader and Motors.
Heycar's majority shareholder, Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS), have pulled the plug leaving more than 126 employees across the UK, Germany, and France at risk of losing their jobs.
A large proportion of Heycar's employees are based in the UK.
They are expected to close in the UK shortly after their closure in Germany, in mid-May.
And a Volkswagen dealership in Wirral has also recently closed, after it's owner US-based Group 1 decided it was restructuring, as part of a £346 million deal.
A Volkswagen spokesperson told the Globe: 'We can confirm that Group 1 Volkswagen Wirral ceased trading at the end of March and is now closed.
'Our focus when any network changes take place remains on convenience and the highest levels of service.
'Customers have been contacted to advise them of alternative sales, service and parts facilities.'
Hundreds of jobs are at risk due to the restructuring.