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Northern car dealership suffers in downturn

North East Ford dealership, Holiways has entered into administration, following a lack of consumer spending.

The retailer of new and used cars also ran a servicing and repairs operation from two sites, in Newton Aycliffe and Bishop Auckland.

Mark Firmin and Howard Smith, of KPMG’s Restructuring practice have been appointed as joint administrators by FCE Bank plc.

They will look for a buyer for the company’s property and assets, while winding down the business.

KPMG say it will cause a high proportion of redundancies among the 81 employees at Holiways, within the coming days. The remaining staff will assist the administrators in the short term.

Mark Firmin, joint administrator and head of UK regional restructuring at KPMG, said: “It is unsurprising that during a recession, a relatively rural car retailer has struggled.

“Despite a restructure, which saw Holiways sell two dealerships in recent weeks, the significant losses incurred by the business through the summer means it simply couldn’t continue to trade.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .