Meridian Motor Group continues growth with Toyota acquisition
FAST growing Meridian Motor Group has sealed another acquisition which will see annual turnover exceed £140m after buying a Toyota dealership in Cumbria.
The Harrogate-based business is marking its 10th anniversary with a series of acquisitions, the latest, which takes its workforce to 330 people, is Batemans Toyota at Grange-over-Sands on the edge of the Lake District.
Meridian now has a total of 10 Toyota centres making the group one of the largest Toyota Network Partners in the UK.
The new dealership will trade as Vantage Toyota. It will continue to operate from the current location for the immediate future whilst a search for a new and improved location within the area is underway. Once a new site is secured, supermarket group Booths will begin construction of a new food store at the Station Square location.
Mark Robinson, the founder and managing director of Meridian Motor Group, said: “We are delighted to announce this latest acquisition. It extends our Vantage brand into a new but complementary geographic region and fits in well with the ambitious expansion plans we have for the group. We are very proud to be one of the largest Toyota partners in the UK.
“We put a high value on providing our customers with great vehicles and outstanding service and we look forward to delivering the same to existing and new customers in this new area.”
Ian Worth, the chairman of Batemans Toyota, said: “We are pleased that the business is being transferred into the ownership of Vantage Toyota which is a well respected operator within the Toyota network already operating from sites in Lancashire and Yorkshire.
“Our customers can be assured that the high levels of service they have experienced in the past will be maintained.”
This latest deal follows the acquisition of four West Midlands dealerships and the development of a new site in Scarborough in June which saw the Lexus and Kia marques added to the Toyota and Hyundai brands already in the group portfolio.
The series of moves, which bring the number of Vantage dealerships to 13, have seen it double in size and it now sells more than 10,000 new and used cars a year.
Meridian Motor Group was founded in 2003 by Mark Robinson with the purchase of two Toyota centres, in Knaresborough and York and an accident repair centre in Knaresborough.
Meridian was advised on the acquisition by Ian Gilbert, Joy Irving, Judith Pike and Charlotte Harris of law firm Walker Morris.
