Dealership accelerates into new era
Thursfields Solicitors has helped All Electric Garages Group's Kidderminster Hyundai dealership launch into a new era with jobs created and a trio of new sites on the Worcester Road.
A £400,000 investment programme over the last year has seen the company move its dealership from its former site in Churchfields and create new facilities for new and used cars, workshops and vehicle preparation along the Worcester Road.
It has also taken on 10 new members of staff, increasing to 25 in total, and hopes are high that five more employees may be needed on the back of surging business growth.
The complex series of deals needed strong legal support and Jason Pickerill, managing director of All Electric, and his team worked closely with Tony Gibb, commercial property director at Thursfields Solicitors.
Mr Pickerill said: “In the first quarter of this year we have seen significant growth in sales of new and used Hyundais and in parts and labour sales.
“This move has put us firmly on the map – some people hadn’t realised we were based here in Kidderminster. Two of our new sites are next door to each other and the third is just a few steps away, so it gives the business a highly visible footprint on the Worcester Road to keep expanding the business into the future.”
The company had been based at Churchfields since the 1990s but had outgrown the site, said Mr Pickerill. With major proposals for redevelopment and housing in that area, it became the right time to look at a move, with a series of suitable sites on the Worcester Road becoming available.
The first stage saw the former Law Plant Hire site transformed into the dealership’s used vehicle facility, with space for 100 used cars and a 10-bay mechanical workshop, which also handles MOT work.
The second phase saw a £300,000 investment in a new 420 sq metres showroom on the site of a former furniture outlet, refurbished to meet Hyundai’s high brand standards. The third and last stage was to redevelop the former Denham electrical wholesalers site, on the corner with Whitehouse Lane, into a new vehicle preparation site with 10 car valet bays, additional storage for up to 40 new vehicles and a new site for the firm’s Hyundai parts department.
The move was underpinned by major growth in sales at the business around the Kidderminster area. All Electric is a top performing Hyundai dealership – with the brand’s sales growing to around four per cent of the UK market.
Mr Pickerill paid tribute to the work done by Tony Gibb, of Thursfields Solicitors: “We are very much a family firm and get the same feeling from Thursfields. They offer the personal touch that we consider so important in our own business. Our previous legal advisors were absorbed by a multinational and I felt had lost that personal touch. I remembered being impressed by Thursfields when they worked for the other party in a deal we were involved with many years ago.
“We got in touch with them and have been very impressed with their work on all three projects. There is a strong personal relationship with Tony Gibb – he talks to me in a language I can understand, explaining legal jargon. Thursfields will be our legal advisers of choice as we move forward with the business.”
Tony Gibb said: “It has been a pleasure working with Jason and the team at All Electric. Our businesses have the same approach to personal service, and we are proud to have played a role in enabling All Electric to put itself in a position for substantial growth.
“These kind of multi-site property deals can be complicated and challenging, but good communications between ourselves, our clients and their property consultants led to a successful outcome for all concerned. We look forward to working with Jason and the team into the future.”
The site deals were negotiated by Mike Price of property consultants Fisher German, who has a long and close relationship with both All Electric and Thursfields. He said: “As well as handling the three transactions to the new premises on Worcester Road, we were also able to arrange the letting of the former site in Churchfields to another dealership on All Electric’s behalf.
“I have a good relationship with Thursfields and have recommended them before. There was strong co-operation between us, because all three of our businesses understand the importance of personal service.”
