£14m Jaguar Land Rover dealership for Wolverhampton hits the skids
A planned £12 million Jaguar Land Rover dealership in Wolverhampton has ground to a halt in the wake of a legal battle that puts the creation of 70 new jobs at risk.
James Brearley, the former boss of nationwide luxury car dealership Stratstone, is being taken to court by his former employer, which has taken out an injunction stopping his plans for the new car showroom on Penn Road.
Mr Brierley would not go into details about the nature of the court case but confirmed it was listed for the High Court in late March.
He said he hoped the project would go ahead, "but that depends on the finding of the court."
He added: "It's a shame. It's a great development but we can't go ahead with it and create the jobs at the moment."
Mr Brearley set up JRB Automotive to run the dealership on Penn Road last year after leaving Stratstone, where he had been managing director, in August. He had worked for Stratstone and its Pendragon parent company for 24 years. It is Pendragon that has launched the legal action against him.
The Penn Road site, the former home of Metal Castings, has been empty for more than 11 years. It was sold by owner Cranford late last year as part of plans for the four-acre new dealership, which had been due to open early this year creating 70 new jobs.
