£15m auto trader expands footprint with new showroom

A car and motorhome dealer based near Derby is expanding its premises and investing further as part of its growth plans.

Geoff Cox, based at Derby Road, Denby, is a family firm established 52 years ago, which has two divisions selling and servicing cars and motorhomes.

The firm has just bought a disused car showroom at Marehay Garage in Ripley. The existing Marehay Garage Services is not affected and continues as a Vauxhall service centre.

The site owners had planned to sell the site of the empty building for housing, but Geoff Cox stepped in and the company plans to redevelop it to a showroom for selling motorhomes.

The new base will open and be fully operational in March, replacing one which has been trading from Denby Pottery Village for three years.

Geoff Cox will be investing nearly £300,000 in the new centre, including facilities for motorhome servicing.

The existing motorhome workshop at Denby will move to Marehay, releasing that land for used car sales.

Neil Cox, managing director, said: “We have had such growth in both divisions over the last four years that we have outgrown the facilities.

“The operation at Marehay will mean we can expand the motorhome business and use the vacated land at Denby for the used car business.

“This is all part-of the long-term growth and investment plan from four years ago which is now coming to fruition.”

In that time turnover has increased from £6m to £15m and and employees numbers have doubled to 24.

“We are delighted that youngsters we took on as apprentices have developed their skills and helped contribute to the company’s growth,” added Cox.

Last year Geoff Cox became a brand ambassador for Adria motorhomes in recognition of it being the company’s number one dealer for the last seven years. Last year Geoff Cox achieved £4.5m of sales on new Adria motorhomes alone.