8:57 am, August 24, 2023
The decision to close what is believed to be the UK’s oldest Jaguar retailer is set to result in 20 job losses, it has been confirmed.
Car Dealer reported earlier this month that Hatfields Jaguar Sheffield would close after 101 years as its current site is unable to adapt to increased EV sales.
The dealership will instead merge with another Hatfields Jaguar site around 25 miles away in Wakefield with 20 jobs being cut from across the two sites in order to accommodate the change.
Managing director Gareth Williams said the Sheffield site will close its doors for good on September 30 after which the plot will be sold.
He insisted the closure was not a ‘reflection on the performance or abilities’ of the workforce but said the showroom needed too much work doing to bring it up to scratch for an all-electric future.
Williams said: ‘Business is booming, this is not a knee-jerk economic reaction.
‘The showroom in Sheffield is on two levels and the workshop is very old fashioned. Demolition would be required.
‘Wakefield has good facilities. Hopefully we can take Sheffield customers with us.’
Founded 101-years ago by Ernest Hatfield, the Sheffield business was the start of what is now a thriving family-run dealer group with nine locations across Yorkshire, Shropshire and the North West.
It claims to be the oldest Jaguar retailer in the country and moved to its current showroom, on Sharrow Vale Road, around 40 years ago.
Williams also described Jaguar’s electrification plans – which will see it ditch ICE vehicles by 2025 – as ‘the biggest change we have ever seen’.
JLR has invested a reported £2.25bn into Jaguar’s electric rebirth, which will see EVs built on the firm’s bespoke JEA platform.
