10:40 am, July 24, 2024
Used car supermarket group Trade Centre UK has closed one of its stores as part of an ongoing plan to ‘grow sales’.
The Car Dealer Top 100 firm has today (Jul 24) confirmed that its Birmingham South site is no longer trading, following a review.
Customers in the area will now be redirected to the outfit’s nearby ‘megastore’ facilities in neighbouring Wednesbury and Coventry.
Bosses have also told Car Dealer that the majority of staff have already been transferred to the sites, which are both within half an hour of the Birmingham South premises.
They added that a small number have remained at the no longer operational site in order to ‘assist with the store closure logistics’.
Andy Coulthurst, CEO of Trade Centre UK, told Car Dealer: ‘We can confirm that as part of our plan to grow sales in the Midlands market area, we have transferred our Birmingham South business to our Megastores at Wednesbury and Coventry. The small-format Birmingham South store has now closed.
‘We are pleased to confirm that the majority of the team have been retained in roles at our Wednesbury and Coventry Megastores, although some are currently assisting with the store closure logistics.
‘Our new Megastore locations at Wednesbury and Coventry are currently benefiting from increased levels of quality retail stock to satisfy demand from our new Megastore retail concept.’
Coulthurst says that the latest decision has been made following research which found that buyers prefer the megastore format, to the smaller used car supermarket.
He added that there were no further changes planned to the company’s retail structure.
The CEO said: ‘Ahead of these changes, data already shows that our customers are 50% more likely to buy a car from a Megastore format store, due to the much wider choice of stock, amongst thousands of cars on offer and prime retail locations.
‘The Wednesbury and Coventry Megastores are located just 30 minutes’ drive from the Birmingham South location, meaning that customers do not have to drive far to save at least £2,000 on Autotrader prices.
‘We can confirm that there are no plans to consolidate stores within our other market areas.’
