Vertu Motors expands presence in the North-East

The Gateshead-based firm has snapped up former Springfield Honda franchises in Durham, Newcastle and Sunderland in a £3.7m deal.  The move makes Vertu Motors the largest Honda dealer group in the UK. The Durham and Sunderland dealerships will be leased from Springfield.

Chris Taylor, m,anaging director of Vertu Honda, said: ‘We are proud to represent Honda and it’s exciting to be expanding the Vertu Honda brand into the North-East. We will offer the full range of class leading Honda car products as well as servicing and parts for Honda plus all other makes. Customers’ needs always remain our first priority; our colleagues are both passionate and knowledgeable about all things Honda.”

Robert Forrester, cheif executive of Vertu Motors, said: “We are delighted to be growing our representation with Honda and in doing so, becoming their most significant franchise partner in the UK. These are well established businesses with knowledgeable colleagues, which will complement our Bristol Street Motors operations in the North-East.”

“We pride ourselves on operating a business built on honesty and trust and remain focused on delivering outstanding service and value to all our customers.”

Ron Price, Chairman of Springfield Motor Group said: “After 20 years of developing the Honda brand in the North-East, from a single site in Sunderland into a regional dealership network, we (Springfield) feel it is now time for someone else to continue to expand the Honda network further and Vertu Motors plc fitted our specification.
“This move allows us to focus more acutely on the future of our very successful Citroen, Fiat and Suzuki franchises, commercial vehicle sales and bodyshop businesses’ that have expanded even more rapidly than Honda, over the past few years.”
Springfield started business in Gateshead in 1989 with a single Citroen Garage. This was quickly expanded upon growing into a £70m turnover business by 2011 employing about 300 people.