Vertu buys four Yorkshire dealers and scouts for more

VERTU MOTORS has bought four Volkswagen Passenger car dealerships in West Yorkshire from Sytner Group for £9m and said it is looking for more sites in the county.

The purchase of four substantial Volkswagen leasehold dealerships in Leeds, Huddersfield, Harrogate and Skipton will expand the group’s Vertu Volkswagen brand. The firm said the deal will complement its existing 13 outlets in Yorkshire, comprising the Nissan, Renault, Jaguar, Land Rover, Vauxhall and Honda brands.

Vertu expects the acquisition to be earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership.

After the acquisition, the group will operate a total of nine Volkswagen Passenger car dealerships.

Robert Forrester, inset, CEO of Vertu, said: “Yorkshire is a great place to sell cars. It’s got a heavy population – a very concentrated population – so we’ve got a lot of customers for both sales and after sales.

“Yorkshire has also got a lot of very good people working in the industry and a number of very strong dealerships. They know how to delight customers and sell cars.”

Mr Forrester said Vertu had been very “underweight” in Yorkshire.

“We’ve now got 13 dealerships in the county and I think we could have well above 20,” he said. “We didn’t have VW in Yorkshire before this deal. We want to be in all the major towns and cities in Yorkshire. We are not in York or Wakefield yet so there is plenty of scope in Yorkshire.”

Earlier this month, Vertu opened two new franchise outlets for Hyundai in the North East. Mr Forrester added: “We are delighted with these changes to our portfolio, especially the Volkswagen acquisition. The addition of these excellent dealerships augments the group’s representation of the Volkswagen brand and expands our operational footprint in Yorkshire.”

Analysts at Liberum said: “We see the acquisition as a good strategic fit and it is good to see Vertu back on the acquisition track after a pause of one year, with Vans Direct the last deal in January 2019.”