Trustford drives growth in Scotland
● Partsplus centre opens in Glasgow as group targets wider expansion
Dealership group Trustford is celebrating the official launch of its second wholesale car parts site in Scotland, under a £1.5 million expansion which will create more than 50 jobs north of the Border.
The new Partsplus Centre in Glasgow, representing an investment of around £700,000, is set to formally open today as the latest addition to the group’s Scottish footprint.
Trustford is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Retail Group, operating independently from the manufacturer. Its Partsplus arm provides services to support the sale of trade parts for Ford, Motorcraft and Omnicraft vehicles directly to franchise groups, independent repairers and body shops.
The group is investing more than £1.5m in Partsplus facilities in Scotland, creating 54 jobs, as it forecasts revenues of £1m a month across its Scottish sites.
It comes amid wider Trustford plans to bring its mobile servicing and Quicklane offerings north of the Border, and marks a personal achievement for Stuart Foulds, the group’s Scots-born chairman and chief executive.
The Glasgow site follows the Partsplus’ recent launch in Aberdeen – its first site in Scotland – and comes ahead of a Dundee branch scheduled to open later in the year.
Foulds will officially open the Glasgow outlet alongside general manager Kevin Magee. He told The Scotsman: “Once the Dundee site is complete we will be able to cover the majority of Scotland as a Partsplus dealer. That means we can deliver to wholesale dealers and groups within an hour of an order being placed.
“The Glasgow site will carry the most stock and in effect feed Dundee and Aberdeen on an overnight basis.
“In terms of sales, once the Dundee site is up and running we’ll expect to sell in the region of £1m-plus worth of parts a month.”
Trustford now has 13 sites for the wholesale franchise across Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. It also operates 44 retail dealership across England, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.
The group is currently undergoing a recruitment drive to bring its mobile servicing offering for commercial fleets, already available in other parts of the UK, to Scotland with a goal to launch this side of the Border by the end of the year. It supplies commercial fleet vehicles to clients including Scottish Gas, Scottish Power and Sky.
Foulds said: “These clients are looking for an end-to-end experience. It’s not just about supplying the vehicle, it’s about maintaining it through its life. We’re in the process of putting in place a mobile service fleet to come directly to the customer or the driver and carry out servicing and/ or warranty work.”
Trustford is also trialling its fast-fit brand Quicklane at sites in Manchester and Essex, with a long-term goal of launching “probably a dozen” Quicklanes across Scotland.
Edinburgh-born Foulds, who is still resident in the capital, has headed up the £1.7 billion turnover Trustford business since joining from Evans Halshaw Ford Group in 2017.
He attended Forrester High School and obtained a diploma in automobile engineering from Napier College before starting his career with The John Martin Group.
“Once the Dundee site is up and running we’ll sell in the region of £1million-plus worth of parts a month”
STUART FOULDS, CEO