Newbury’s the ‘perfect fit’ for Sandown Group

Family-owned company takes over Mercedes dealership

THE Sandown Group has strengthened its MercedesBenz retail operations and extended its network northwards into Berkshire with the acquisition of Mercedes-Benz of Newbury.

The family-owned group takes over the London Road site from Sytner Group and increases its portfolio to eight locations offering Mercedes-Benz, AMG and smart sales and aftersales services.

Newbury joins Dorchester, Poole, Salisbury, Basingstoke, Guildford, Hindhead and Farnborough, where a brand new outlet opened in 2019.

The Sandown team has represented Mercedes-Benz for almost 40 years.

Sandown’s UK involvement began in 2007 and the group has invested significantly in its business and facilities to ensure customers are treated to an unrivalled retail experience when buying new or approved used cars and genuine parts, and servicing vehicles. Sandown’s managing director Gavin McAllister said that he was honoured to welcome Mercedes- Benz of Newbury and its staff into the group – describing the acquisition as “a special moment for Sandown”. “In terms of its location and proximity to our other retailers, Newbury is a perfect fit that enables us to reach into West Berkshire,” he continued.

“Its addition is an important step in our development plan. “As a business, we are absolutely dedicated to delivering excellence for our customers, our team and our partners at Mercedes-Benz.

“We are passionate about providing the very highest levels of service to existing and prospective customers across each and every one of our sites and online.”

Mercedes-Benz of Newbury boasts a seven-car showroom, while its Approved Used display of 40 vehicles increases Sandown’s group stock to more than 700 cars.

Behind the scenes, a state-ofthe-art eight-bay workshop is fully-equipped to undertake every aspect of Mercedes-Benz and smart servicing, and repairs.

The majority of Mercedes-Benz of Newbury’s existing 44-strong workforce will remain with the business, overseen by a new general manager, Keith Jackman, who has been a member of Sandown’s senior management team for many years and previously headed up its Basingstoke and Guildford sites. “Newbury is a fantastic operation and I look forward to working alongside a very knowledgeable and experienced team that has already established an outstanding reputation for customer service and is committed to maintaining this,” he said. “With Mercedes-Benz accelerating its journey towards CO2 neutrality in 2021 with the unveiling of four new Mercedes-EQ all-electric models, as well as the further expansion of the ever-growing family of plug-in hybrid cars, I have every confidence that Mercedes-Benz of Newbury’s best years lie ahead.”

As a business, we are absolutely dedicated to delivering excellence for our customers, our team and our partners at Mercedes-Benz