National take-over at city car dealership
Family run Morrisons acquired by the John Clark Motor Group - Andrew Morrison to stay involved
One of Stirling’s longest established family run car dealerships has been taken over by a national firm.
John Clark Motor Group has acquired Morrisons Garages Limited and Morrisons Land Rover Limited, based in Glasgow Road.
The business includes Land Rover, Jaguar and SEAT and will add an additional 80 staff to the group’s current 1264 team members.
Group chairman John Clark was delighted one of the Morrison family, Andrew Morrison, was to stay involved with the business.
A spokesman said he would continue to work at an operational and strategic level “ensuring the business retains his many years of experience and knowledge with Morrisons” whilst helping with the integration of the new company.
Mr Clark said: “Acquiring the Morrisons businesses will help to strengthen our position as one of the leading automotive businesses in Scotland and fits perfectly with our longer-term strategy.
“Working alongside Andrew will also be a great benefit for the group as his previous knowledge of the company, the team and its customers will help to ensure that this transition is as seamless as possible.”
Mr Morrison said: “I am looking forward to working with the team at John Clark Motor Group and believe the cultural fit of the two businesses being family run will be a benefit to us all.”
The company will continue to operate under the Morrisons banner in a bid to recognise years of long standing service and customer loyalty.
Group managing director Chris Clark said: “The team from Morrisons will benefit from our award-winning colleague training programmes, ensuring they have the right skills to continue to deliver the exceptional customer service this business is already renowned for.”
John Clark Motor Group is a family run and owned business and one of the UK’s top 20 motor trade businesses.
During 2016, turnover grew by five per cent to £703m from £667m the previous year and profit before tax was at 1.2 per cent of sales, which remained above the UK motor trade national average.
With the addition of Morrisons of Stirling, the company now represents 13 brands across 33 sites as well as operating two used car stores, Motorchoice, in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
David Kendrick, Automotive Partner, UHY Hacker Young who advised the shareholders of Morrisons said “We have seen a significant amount of change within the Jaguar Land Rover network over the past five years and the Morrison’s business remained one of the only privately owned sites. With the increased investment requirements and number of large groups north of the border it makes strategic sense for the shareholders to exit.
The company will continue to operate under the Morrisons banner