£280m turnover Auto Trader swoops for delivery ‘bolt on’

Auto Trader

Manchester-based online car seller Auto Trader Group, which has a turnover of more than £280m, has bought Macclesfield company Motor Trade Delivery for an undisclosed sum.

Motor Trader Delivery was founded in 2013 and operates a similar service to its new owner, providing an online, real-time marketplace for the trade delivery of vehicles across the UK.

Auto Trader chief executive Trevor Mather said: “We have been extremely impressed by the technology platform and customer base that Motor Trade Delivery has built in a short space of time and are delighted to be welcoming them to the Auto Trader team.

“We believe that their innovative product, combined with our scale, industry knowledge and relationships, will create an offering with growth potential that will strengthen our trade-to-trade business.”
Motor Trade Delivery facilitates the movement of around 3,000 vehicles around the country every week, listed Auto Trader said.

In the year to the end of September 2016, Motor Trade Delivery reported annual revenue and profit that was “less than 1.0%” of Auto Trader’s annual equivalent, it said.

“Through the platform, car dealerships and rental companies list ‘jobs’ – vehicles that need moving to another retailer site or a customer – and logistics providers bid for the jobs via a live auction process.

“Dealerships get the best possible price for the vehicle movement without needing to contact multiple potential providers and the logistics providers save time and money by getting access to greater volumes of work,” said Auto Trader.

Paul Raftery, Jack Beech, Phil Allen and Haydn Rogan at Weightmans in Manchester acted on behalf of Motor Trade Delivery.

Paul Raftery, head of corporate and commercial at Weightmans, said: “Motor Trade Delivery Ltd is one of the North West’s most innovative firms which has revolutionised the transport logistics market since it was established in 2013.”

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