John Clark invests £4m 02 | 09 | 2013

    JOHN CLARK MOTOR GROUP (JCMG) it is to invest £4 million in the creation of two new motor dealerships in Aberdeen. The latest move brings the total of its current investment programme in the city to around £8 million. 

    Following its recent acquisition of four Jaguar and Land Rover businesses in June, JCMG — Scotland’s second largest motor group — is now one of the top 20 groups in the UK.

    It has now received planning permission for two new purpose-built dealerships (pictured) at the new Balmoral Business Park in Aberdeen, for John Clark Mini and Specialist Cars Nissan. 

    “These new developments confirm the group’s continuing commitment to Aberdeen, where I established the original John Clark BMW dealership 36 years ago," John Clark, chairman and managing director of JCMG, said.

    “As the largest and most established premium car supplier in Aberdeen, the local market is extremely important to us. The new purpose-built Mini and Nissan sites will provide our dealership teams with the facilities they need to develop their businesses and provide the very best levels of customer service.

    “These new developments come at a time of considerable expansion in the John Clark Motor Group, following what has been a very successful year. We are extremely pleased to be a part of the Balmoral Park development, Aberdeen’s premier South side business park.

    “In June this year, we acquired four Jaguar and Land Rover dealerships in Edinburgh, Perth and Cupar and these are already operating successfully under our Pentland banner.”

    Related: John Clark invests £1m in BMW i brand

    The Specialist Cars Nissan and John Clark Mini dealerships will share a prominent 3.5-acre site at the new business park, with excellent visibility from the A956 main road into Aberdeen from the south.

    The new Nissan dealership — designed to be a flagship European dealership for Nissan  — will extend to 15,074sq/ft. The eight-car showroom, with vehicle hand-over bay, will be fully glazed to provide excellent visibility from the main road. 

    The new dealership will cater for electric vehicles, with a specialist service bay and Nissan Leaf recharging points. The opening will also mark the Aberdeen debut of the high-performance Nissan GT-R sports coupe, with a dedicated high-performance vehicle display area in the showroom and specialist servicing bay.

    The eight-bay workshop will also have specialist servicing facilities for electric and 4x4 vehicles, plus a separate MoT test facility. 

    Alongside, the group will build an all-new purpose-built Mini centre. Finished to the latest Mini corporate standards, the fully-glazed facade of the new John Clark Mini dealership will be highlighted by full-size glassfibre replica Minis attached to the frontage.

    Related: John Clark invests £1.4m

    The 8070sq/ft dealership building will have a 12-car showroom, plus a separate enclosed hand-over bay and four workshop bays to cater for the growing Mini family. 

    In addition to extensive customer parking, the site will also contain a 2044sq/ft car valet and smart car repair facility

    The new dealerships are scheduled to open for business in April 2014. The opening will create 20 new jobs immediately with further employment expected as the businesses develop. 

    At the same time, the JCMG has just acquired the former Alliance Centre on Aberdeen’s Greenwell Road, which is currently being redeveloped to create a multi-franchise pre-delivery inspection centre, valet and smart repair facility.

    The new premises will also house the group’s head office operations, which are being relocated there from Abbottswell Road. 

    The first stage of the current £8 million Aberdeen investment programme was the creation of one of the UK’s largest Skoda and Seat dealerships for Specialist Cars Skoda and Specialist Cars Seat in Craigshaw Drive, Aberdeen. This was followed by a £1 million refurbishment of the flagship John Clark BMW dealership.

    Related: Record results for John Clark Motor Group

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    Jim McGill

     

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