83 North West jobs go in Unipart Automotive collapse

ADMINISTRATORS from KPMG have sold part of the Unipart Automotive business to Andrew Page and The Parts Alliance saving 361 jobs – but 1,244 have been made redundant.

Rumours that Birmingham-based Unipart Automotive, owned by H2 Equity Partners, was about to enter administration have been circulating for weeks and were confirmed this morning.

The insolvency has led to the loss of 83 jobs at 15 locations in the North West.

The firm is one of the UK’s largest suppliers of second hand car parts, workshop consumables and garage equipment. It operates a network of 180 branches and distribution hubs trading under the Unipart Automotive, Partco Autoparts, and Express Factors brands. It employed 1,813 people.

A total of 208 members of staff have been retained to assist the administrators, Mark Orton, Will Wright and Jonny Marston from KPMG’s Birmingham office. Immediately upon appointment, the administrators sold part of the business in a joint deal to Andrew Page, one of the UK’s largest distributors of car parts, workshop equipment, tools and diagnostics, and The Parts Alliance. The deal will see Andrew Page acquire 21 branches and The Parts Alliance a total of 12. The remainder of the Unipart Automotive business has ceased to trade.

Joint administrator Mark Orton said: “Despite intensive efforts over recent weeks, a sale of the whole Unipart Automotive business could not be reached, and a buyer could only be found for 33 of the sites on a going concern basis.

“Unfortunately, the business had been experiencing financial stress for a number of years, so the level of cash and further operational restructuring required to rescue a more substantial part of the business posed too much risk for most interested parties.  

“Our team of employment specialists will be supporting all staff on completing redundancy forms and putting them in touch with job seeker services. We will now be reviewing what options are available for the remainder of the business, such as selling leasehold interests.”

The company also directly supports over 700 independent, owner-operated garages through its Unipart Car Care Centre programme, in addition to having 19 franchisees. These companies fall outside of the administration and will continue to operate as normal.

In the North West those operations saved are: Warrington – the distribution hub and branch; Lytham St Annes; Southport; Carlisle – the branch; Stockport; and Macclesfield.

Those which will close are at Wigan, Preston, Salford, Morecambe, Oldham, Barrow, Birkenhead, Bolton, Chester, Crewe, Carlisle, Kendal and Liverpool, as well as the Manchester and North West hubs.

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