300 jobs to go as Pendragon reveals Car Store closure programme

Some 3o0 jobs are set to be axed after troubled Nottingham car retailer Pendragon said it was closing 22 of its Car Store outlets.

The firm, which posted a £32.2m loss for the six months to 30 June, did not disclose the locations of the closures, but said that the majority sites are historic franchise locations that are “not suited to the Car Store model”.

The move will leave behind 12 Car Store locations.

Chris Chambers, non-executive chairman, said: “Whilst market conditions have been challenging in the first half of 2019 with headwinds in both the used and new car markets the Group has continued to deliver like-for-like revenue growth. However, there has been a material decline in the Group’s profitability principally as a result of the actions taken to address excess used car stock.

“We made significant progress reducing this exposure in the latter period of the first-half and we remain committed to the strategy of growth in the Group’s used car proposition.

“The business is fully focused on maximising performance, but we expect the market to continue to be challenging during the second half of 2019.”