Vertu car dealership speeds up expansion

Jun 10 2010 by Iain Laing, The Journal

VERTU Motors has continued its expansion by buying two more dealerships in Scotland.

The Newcastle-based motor dealer has bought dual-franchised Ford and Mazda dealerships in Glasgow and Hamilton from Shields Automotive Ltd for up to £2.5m in cash.

The company, which has quickly grown to be the eighth biggest in the UK, has now acquired four dealerships north of the border since the turn of the year. The new dealerships will be re-branded as Macklin Motors, the name for Vertu dealerships in Scotland.

The acquired businesses had a combined turnover of £27.1m for the year ending June 30 last year.

The group now operates 64 sales outlets, including 19 Ford outlets and 19 Mazda dealerships. Vertu has been expanding fast since securing £30m for acquisitions from the City. It revealed last month that its pre-tax profits hurtled upwards from £70,000 to £4.6m in the 12 months ending February this year.

Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu Motors, said: “We are pleased to have agreed to acquire a further four sales outlets in Scotland. This demonstrates continued delivery of our strategy to grow a scaled motor retail group across the country in targeted regions. We are excited by the opportunities this acquisition brings with our manufacturer partners, Ford and Mazda, and both dealerships are in prime retail locations representing an excellent geographic fit with the Group’s existing Scottish dealerships.”