8:30 am, October 8, 2025
Staff at Lithia UK have allegedly been told they face losing their jobs – just days after the firm spent big to acquire Hatfields.
Car Dealer reported last week that Lithia had wrapped up a deal to take over the JLR specialist, following months of negotiations.
While no price has been made public, experts estimated over the summer that Hatfields could be worth a fee of more than £70m.
Announcing the deal, Lithia bosses said they were ‘honoured’ to have the Hatfields team on board and pledged that the incoming group’s current employees would remain in position.
However, while Hatfields staff were safe, Car Dealer can now reveal that plans were seemingly already in place for redundancies throughout the wider Lithia business
Car Dealer understands that following the announcement, Lithia began contacting its existing employees telling them that they had been ‘placed at risk of redundancy’.
The memo, which has been seen by Car Dealer, told workers that they had ‘entered into a period of consultation lasting no less than 10 days’.
The employees were then invited to attend a ‘consultation meeting’ to discuss their own ‘individual circumstances’.
It is believed that the note was sent to service advisors, drivers, sales administrators, warranty administrators and vehicle progressors across Lithia’s existing businesses.
The letter, signed by the Lithia HR team, says: ‘I regret to inform you that you have been placed at risk of redundancy and entered into a period of consultation lasting no less than 10 days.
‘During this time, you will be invited to a consultation meeting, where we will discuss your individual circumstances, and possible deployment or redeployment opportunities amongst any other concerns or queries you may have.’
The note later concludes: ‘Following the consultation period, should there be no alternatives found, unfortunately, your employment with the company may be terminated on the grounds of redundancy.’
One insider told Car Dealer that they thought the situation was a ‘joke’ and criticised the timing of the decision, so soon after the Hatfields acquisition.
When approached by Car Dealer, a spokesman for Lithia said: ‘We can categorically confirm that nobody working within Hatfields has received a letter or is at risk of redundancy.’
However, the firm did not respond when asked whether staff already working for Lithia were now at risk.
As well as Hatfields, the American firm also operates Evans Halshaw and Stratstone, having acquired the groups from Pendragon last year.
Since taking over the running of those groups, Lithia has carried out multiple cuts, the most recent wave coming in February.
The firm closed its Renault and Dacia site in Doncaster, its Vauxhall sites in Portsmouth and Wolverhampton as well as ‘direct pod’ locations in St Albans, Hanworth and Orpington.
Addressing staff impacted by the latest news, Lithia said it remains its ‘sincere intention to mitigate as far as possible any job losses’.
The group said in its letter: ‘Please be assured that we are committed to satisfying, wherever possible, the individual requirements of every affected associate with the hope that we can continue to provide long term job security and financial reward.
‘It is our sincere intention to mitigate as far as possible any job losses and your support, involvement and co-operation is fundamental at this time.’
Founded by Ernest Hatfield in 1922, the group now operates dealerships representing Jaguar, Land Rover, Jaecoo and Omoda across the Midlands and the North West.
The firm has won a string of awards over the years and was named Jaguar’s ‘Partner of the Year’ back in 2022.
