The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Major new dealership for Dundee
Group say multimillion pound venture will provide 100 jobs and continue to change the nature of car buying in Scotland
Work has started on the new Peter Vardy CarStore in Dundee, a £7.2 million high-tech car supermarket investment.
Ground was broken after a lengthy period of site clearance, and concrete is now being poured for foundations for the steel fabrication of the new facility for pre-owned cars.
The construction phase will support up to 300 jobs and bring back into use the former Valentine’s card factory site which has lain empty for many years.
Transformation of the 8.5 acre brownfield site on Kingsway is due to be completed for the venture’s opening in March 2017, creating up to 100 permanent jobs.
It is expected to emulate the success of the Peter Vardy Group’s first CarStore which opened at Hillington in Glasgow in 2013.
For its opening, almost 1000 people applied for 70 posts.
Stuart Eynon, Peter Vardy Group property director, said: “With a fair wind we may well be able to pull the March opening date forward.
“Dundee City Council has worked hand-in-hand with us and we are keen to deliver a really outstanding new car retail environment on a major arterial route through the city.”
The group say the project will continue to change the way people buy their cars in Scotland.
The Dundee CarStore is designed to be a destination dealership, where people can browse in comfortable surroundings to find the car of their choice.
Chief executive Peter Vardy said: “The site will provide easy access for people from Tayside and the whole of the East of Scotland.”
The group, which already has outlets in Perth, Kirkcaldy and Dalgety Bay, has a family history in the trade stretching back to 1923 when Peter’s grandfather Reg entered the business.
With a network of 12 Scottish branches, the group sold 24,278 vehicles last year and had a turnover up 10% at £437 million.