Meridian continues expansion with opening of new dealership

Meridian, which trades as Vantage Motor group, has bought the site of a former car dealership at St Mary’s Way in Oldham for an undisclosed figure.

Following a £350,000 refit, the dealership is expected to open in October.

Trading as Vantage Hyundai Oldham, the new centre will be expected to sell 800 new and used cars each year, and contribute an extra £10m to the Meridian Motor Group turnover.

It is Meridian’s eighth deal in 10 weeks,

The growth of Meridian reflects the revival of the wider automotive industry, which saw a 12.7 per cent increase in new car sales this month, prompting industry bodies, such as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, to increase forecasts for the year.

Andrew Mallory, operations director for Vantage, said yesterday:

“This expansion will significantly strengthen our presence in Manchester, providing customers in places like Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside the convenience of a Hyundai centre near them.

“It’s also great to be able to bring this site back to use again after years of being derelict, and create jobs.

“We opened our first dealership in Salford two years ago, and since then we’ve had a really positive response from customers.

“It makes sense to open a second dealership in Manchester to enable the business to continue to grow.

“We are still the only Hyundai dealership in the area.”

The site in Oldham was previously home to a Volvo car dealership.

It has been vacant since the closure of the business five years ago.

Meridian Motor Group opened its first Hyundai dealership in Salford in 2011.

The company employs more than 350 people at 14 dealerships across Yorkshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, the Lake District and the West Midlands.

In June, Meridian acquired four West Midlands dealerships from Sytner, as part of its expansion plans.

It also provided an economic boost for the Yorkshire coast, by developing a site in Scarbor- ough.

The expansion into the West Midlands brought the Lexus brand into the group for the first time, with the acquisition of a dealership at Fort Dunlop near Birmingham, as well as Toyota centres at Fort Dunlop, Solihull and Tamworth.

In July, Meridian bought the business of Batemans Toyota at Grange-over-Sands, on the edge of the Lake District.

The company now has a total of 10 Toyota centres, making it one of the largest Toyota network partners in the UK.

The new dealership in Grange-over-Sands is trading as Vantage Toyota.

Meridian was founded in 2003 by managing director, Mark Robinson, with the acquisition of two Toyota centres, in Knaresborough and York and an accident repair centre in Knaresborough, which was later sold.

Mr Robinson said last month: “I am delighted we are able to continue marking a decade of achievement with this series of acquisitions and develop- ments.

“They signal our ambition to become a real national force while retaining those important local business qualities.

“We will be investing significantly in our new sites.”