SG Petch and Clive Brook are the latest Dealer Groups to join the Retail Automotive Alliance (RAA) as Shareholders in the JV business, taking the total number of Members to 27, the largest membership in the Group’s 15 year history.
Darlington based SG Petch have 7 dealerships across the North East including a new Kia and Mazda site which opened this year in Sunderland. They now represent 11 vehicle marques and in 2019 they won Kia’s Dealer of the Year. They have been serving their community with cars and vans for over 40 years and their turnover of £155m is now set to increase with the investment in the latest showroom.
Clive Brook Volvo have been trading since 2008 and are now well established as Yorkshire’s Volvo experts. They have two dealerships in Huddersfield and Bradford with a turnover of £52m and are strong with local business and fleets, offering an “executive” collection and delivery service. A frequent winner of Customer Service awards from across the industry, Clive Brook consistently appears among the leaders in Volvo’s league tables.
The RAA has a turnover of £3.25bn through more than 220 sales outlets and has a string of long-term contracts with Blue Chip automotive suppliers based on this market leverage. It, therefore, delivers savings way beyond what any individual RAA Member could achieve alone.
Steve Petch, CEO of SG Petch said, “Joining the RAA meant changing several key suppliers for us but we looked at the savings and it was clear that the overall benefit of RAA membership was too significant to ignore.”
Clive Brook, CEO, added “It’s not just the commercial benefit that appealed to me, I really value the opportunity to meet the other 26 RAA Members and share ideas and solutions in this completely different trading environment that we all have to adapt to.”
John Matthews, Director of the RAA, said, “2020 has been a tale of two halves but despite the first half losses, the Members have all enjoyed a strong comeback with many recovering most, or all, of the lost months.”
He added, “What has really become clear however, is the value that the RAA brought to them during the Lockdown periods with regular online forums to learn how others are solving now common problems such as furloughed staff, competitive PPE prices and showroom protocol.”
“The interest in RAA membership has increased markedly, hence two new Members in a year like this one, but we have also struck new 3 year deals with Castrol and Cox Automotive which will deliver even greater savings for the Members when they need it most,” said Matthews.