Halliwell Jones revs up for growth

NORTH West car retailer Halliwell Jones Group is investing more than £9m in upgrading and expanding three of its dealerships.

The £186m turnover group has sealed funding of £7.6m from The Co-operative Bank for its £9.2m development programme.
 
Halliwell Jones, which has four North West dealerships and one site at Llandudno North Wales, is expanding and improving its dealerships in Chester, Warrington and Southport.

This month marked the opening of the Group’s newest MINI dealership at its BMW site in Southport, and work is already underway to double the size of its BMW MINI dealership in Warrington, with an improved layout and additional customer parking.

£5.5m of the loan is being used to aid the development of a new state-of-the-art service centre and body shop at the Group’s BMW dealership in Chester.

The funding is expected to boost job numbers at the Southport, Warrington and Chester dealerships by about 10% over the next three years.

Halliwell Jones has banked with The Co-operative Bank since 2004 and acquired funding in 2007 to buy  its BMW dealership in Llandudno.

Group finance director Glyn Howes, said: “The continued success of the group relies not only on our excellent relationship with BMW/MINI and our highly talented staff who work hard to provide the very best customer experience, but also on the funding support of our Bank, for which we are extremely grateful.

“This is an exciting time for the group, with the expansion at Chester, Warrington and Southport, representing our commitment to further enhancing our portfolio, creating more jobs and working to further increase customer satisfaction – above and beyond the excellent standard we already achieve.”

Work on the Group’s Warrington and Chester dealerships is already underway with completion for both expected before the end of the year.

Steve Lomax, senior corporate manager at the Manchester Corporate Banking Centre of The Co-operative Bank, said: “Since opening its first dealership in Southport more than 25 years ago, Halliwell Jones Group has grown significantly.

“At The Co-operative Bank we pride ourselves on a tried and trusted strategy of starting and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with our corporate customers over the long term and are delighted to continue to provide valuable support to help the group to realise its corporate ambitions.”