A MOTOR group led by a Holme Valley man has acquired a Huddersfield dealership as part of an £11m expansion move.
RRG Group, which has Holmfirth-born Arran Bangham as joint managing director, has bought four dealerships from West Riding Motor Group.
The acquisition is made up of the Toyota dealerships at Leeds Road, Huddersfield, and at Bradford and Keighley along with a Lexus dealership in Bradford.
Together, they employ 106 staff who will join RRG’s existing workforce of 760.
Salford-based RRG is also introducing the Nissan brand to an existing site at Bury.
RRG, which celebrated its 45th anniversary in September, plans to double the size of the business by 2015 and is targeting Yorkshire and the north-east from its North West heartland.
Mr Bangham said by acquiring good, profit-making businesses, RRG was looking to significantly boost its dealership revenues.
He said: “Creating long-term business partnerships helps to grow the business, promote confidence and enhance mutual profitability. With this partnership we are bringing WRMG’s successful Toyota and Lexus sites into our portfolio which will undoubtedly increase our revenues and our success.
“These acquisitions also mean a great deal to me personally as I hail originally from Holmfirth and we’re bringing RRG Group back home to my roots.”
Formed in 2003, West Riding Motor Group has a long history with Toyota with its Keighley site, which opened in 1967, being one of Toyota’s oldest locations in the country.
The Huddersfield site also has a long history, hosting a Toyota dealer for the past 40 years; the Bradford Toyota site has been in operation since 1982.
Mr Bangham said: “With the acquisition of these successful and well-situated Yorkshire sites, we are well on our way to becoming not only the North West’s but also the North’s major player in the car industry.”
Joint managing director Tony Cliff said: “Our new sites will benefit from increased investment, enhanced systems and processes and our group expertise steeped in 45 years of business.
“In addition, our commitment to first class customer service and staff development will help to bring new life and investment to these sites.”
RRG is building on its existing 12% market share in Bury – through its Toyota and Kia dealerships – by bringing in Nissan to partner Toyota at the dealership at Bolton Road, Bury. RRG has been in Bury since 1978.
The RRG Group operates 12 Toyota dealerships, two for Peugeot, four for Lexus, three for Mazda, two for Suzuki, one for Kia and two repair centres.
