Old NW car dealers
Discussion
Pesky said:
Now Bauer Millett joins the list.
Saw that this morning. I think they tried to do too much, and seemingly fell foul of increasing franchise standards for all the mfrs they held that for. The car market will continue to change and this type of dealer will likely be squeezed out. It is sad though. Blown2CV said:
Pesky said:
Now Bauer Millett joins the list.
Saw that this morning. I think they tried to do too much, and seemingly fell foul of increasing franchise standards for all the mfrs they held that for. The car market will continue to change and this type of dealer will likely be squeezed out. It is sad though. Always found them to have a big emphasis on being a City Centre dealership.
Sheepshanks said:
Blimey, I lived not far from there but I really don't remember a Ford dealer in that area - there was one in town and another in Speke. Davy's and Blakes are names I remember but can't exactly date them. I bought a new MkII Capri from the one in town in 1978. I promptly crashed it, and it was taken to the dealer in Speke who messed around, so I had it repaired at Glebe Garage in Widnes.
I had a Saturday and Summer job in the late 1980s/early 1990s at Glebe, dewaxing/cleaning/PDI'ing the bodywork on new Fords and valeting secondhanders for the forecourt. Happy times! The workshop half became a bodyshop (which it still is) and the showroom half has been through a number of business attempts (a kids wacky warehouse place and a solicitors I think, at least) and is now being refitted as a curryhouse. Also local to me was Farnworth Garage in Widnes, a Vauxhall dealer. I remember regularly sitting in the Chevette HSR they had in the showroom as a treat when walking with my parents to the shops
I did this "then and now" pic of it a few years ago. Top pic from a 1970 Autocar. It was split over two sites, a petrol station/forecourt/showroom (in this pic) and a workshop just around the corner.
Farnworth Garage, Widnes by retromotoring, on Flickr
Edited by darrenw on Saturday 27th December 12:13
While I'm in this thread I wonder if anybody has any photos of the Moskvitch dealer also in Widnes, I'm guessing it must have been in the early 1970s, situated at the top of Birchfield Road/Lunts Heath Road where the petrol station is on the roundabout now. It's before I was born but my Dad remembers it well, I've always wondered what it looked like as I live just around the corner!
B1G GK said:
Blown2CV said:
Pesky said:
Now Bauer Millett joins the list.
Saw that this morning. I think they tried to do too much, and seemingly fell foul of increasing franchise standards for all the mfrs they held that for. The car market will continue to change and this type of dealer will likely be squeezed out. It is sad though. Always found them to have a big emphasis on being a City Centre dealership.
They always only sold niche products though - and in the recent climate it's probably been incredibly difficult to make a profit. From googling it looks like the investment Fiat forced them to make in their workshop facilities a couple of years ago was the final nail.
A real shame.
From Manchester Evening News...
Landmark Manchester car showroom Bauer Millett closes
The 40-year-old family-run business, Bauer Millett, based in the city centre, shut with the loss of about 20 jobs, leaving some workers in tears
In its showroom in listed viaduct arches in Albion Street, the firm had franchises for some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Cadillac, Chrysler, Corvette, Jeep, and Hummer. Rolls Royce, Ferrari, and Maserati, were other makes sold.
Today shocked staff said they had no warning as to what was coming.
The firm was set up by Lawrence Millett and Chris Bauer and first traded in Blackley Village, in new and second hand cars.
It later moved to Peter Street, and Deansgate before its final showroom which is at the rear of the Hilton Hotel.
Mr Millett died in 2005 and the running of the company was taken over by his son, Mitch Millett.
One member of staff, who did not want to be named, said: “Bauer Millett has been trading in Manchester for approximately 40 years. I had worked there for more than ten years, many other people a lot longer.
“Mitch Millett just came in on the 23rd and said he couldn’t make it work any more. Within 10 minutes they were clearing the whole business out.”
The showroom at Albion Street is now empty of cars and the company’s service and parts depot at Dark Lane, Ardwick, shut.
The company was the first official suppliers of Hummers in the UK.
Six months ago the company shed several staff at the showroom and reduced its capacity there. It was not selling enough Alfa Romeos and the company dropped the famous Italian marque from its range plus its link with Chrysler.
A member of staff said: “The service workshop only opened 18 months ago and cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to fit with state of the art equipment.
“With Manchester United being sponsored by Chevrolet we had a big link with the club doing players’ and staff cars when they needed servicing.
“Mitch came to the workshop and a staff meeting was called. We thought it would be just to wish us merry Christmas. But he instead he said the business had been struggling for the last five years and he was calling it a day.
“The Alfa sales had not worked so the company tried to concentrate on what it had always done - top end of the market vehicles from Europe and the US. But in the end that didn’t work either.
“There was shock, dismay, and some tears. The sales director had been there 40 years. We knew things were a bit quiet, but after moving into new premises for the servicing 18 months ago we thought the future was secure.”
About 12 staff worked at the workshop and six at the showroom - which until six months ago had 15 sales staff.
A victim of the changing business environment
Bauer Millett’s eyecatching city centre premises made it one of Manchester’s most famous car dealerships - but also played a role in its decline, its managing director told the MEN.
Unlike smaller online competition, Bauer Millett had an expensive showroom and around twenty staff, and the firm could not weather a changing market like the big chains.
Mitch Millett said the company’s recent investment in its Dark Lane service centre was an attempt to satisfy suppliers at Fiat and keep the business ‘sustainable’.
However sales of Fiat’s Alfa Romeo and Abarth marques went ‘backwards’ over time, while sales of the group’s Chrysler and Jeep brands brought in to boost performance ‘never reached the levels’ expected.
”The competition within the network was extreme and being a city centre site the reality is that our overheads were unusually high.Even if you could sell the cars the margins simply weren’t there - it was a very expensive business because of its location. We tried to refocus on the north American cars we’d been working with the for the last twenty years, but we still had the problem that the overheads were too great for the opportunity represented.”
“Bauer Millett has always been a business known for being in the city centre - but the reality is the motor trade is going through a revolution. More businesses are closing down than opening, the industry is consolidating into big PLCS, and the competition is much more fierce.”
Mr Millet said administrators took the decision when to close the business.”The business has in one way or another existed my entire life and a bit longer so my personal and emotional connection has also been very strong.”
“I know it’s been very hard for the staff coming before Christmas but there’s never a good time - I know they understand the trading difficulties the company has encountered are not a recent thing and we have fought together over the last three years to turn it around. We have always been known for being a specialist car retailer and that’s become an
increasingly more difficult market. Used cars are harder to buy and more challenging to sell. There’s more and more people looking, the internet has made it easier for people to buy at auctions, its a lot easier for people to shop around from the comfort of their own home. I have always tried my hardest. We made it through the global recession without any staff being forced to take pay cuts or reduced hours, we tried to look after everybody as best we could and no staff have been left with salary owing. “There’s always a chance that somebody may continue Bauer Millett, but its an industry that’s polarising - you’re either very big or very small and I don’t think there’s an awful lot of space in the middle.”*
Landmark Manchester car showroom Bauer Millett closes
The 40-year-old family-run business, Bauer Millett, based in the city centre, shut with the loss of about 20 jobs, leaving some workers in tears
In its showroom in listed viaduct arches in Albion Street, the firm had franchises for some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Cadillac, Chrysler, Corvette, Jeep, and Hummer. Rolls Royce, Ferrari, and Maserati, were other makes sold.
Today shocked staff said they had no warning as to what was coming.
The firm was set up by Lawrence Millett and Chris Bauer and first traded in Blackley Village, in new and second hand cars.
It later moved to Peter Street, and Deansgate before its final showroom which is at the rear of the Hilton Hotel.
Mr Millett died in 2005 and the running of the company was taken over by his son, Mitch Millett.
One member of staff, who did not want to be named, said: “Bauer Millett has been trading in Manchester for approximately 40 years. I had worked there for more than ten years, many other people a lot longer.
“Mitch Millett just came in on the 23rd and said he couldn’t make it work any more. Within 10 minutes they were clearing the whole business out.”
The showroom at Albion Street is now empty of cars and the company’s service and parts depot at Dark Lane, Ardwick, shut.
The company was the first official suppliers of Hummers in the UK.
Six months ago the company shed several staff at the showroom and reduced its capacity there. It was not selling enough Alfa Romeos and the company dropped the famous Italian marque from its range plus its link with Chrysler.
A member of staff said: “The service workshop only opened 18 months ago and cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to fit with state of the art equipment.
“With Manchester United being sponsored by Chevrolet we had a big link with the club doing players’ and staff cars when they needed servicing.
“Mitch came to the workshop and a staff meeting was called. We thought it would be just to wish us merry Christmas. But he instead he said the business had been struggling for the last five years and he was calling it a day.
“The Alfa sales had not worked so the company tried to concentrate on what it had always done - top end of the market vehicles from Europe and the US. But in the end that didn’t work either.
“There was shock, dismay, and some tears. The sales director had been there 40 years. We knew things were a bit quiet, but after moving into new premises for the servicing 18 months ago we thought the future was secure.”
About 12 staff worked at the workshop and six at the showroom - which until six months ago had 15 sales staff.
A victim of the changing business environment
Bauer Millett’s eyecatching city centre premises made it one of Manchester’s most famous car dealerships - but also played a role in its decline, its managing director told the MEN.
Unlike smaller online competition, Bauer Millett had an expensive showroom and around twenty staff, and the firm could not weather a changing market like the big chains.
Mitch Millett said the company’s recent investment in its Dark Lane service centre was an attempt to satisfy suppliers at Fiat and keep the business ‘sustainable’.
However sales of Fiat’s Alfa Romeo and Abarth marques went ‘backwards’ over time, while sales of the group’s Chrysler and Jeep brands brought in to boost performance ‘never reached the levels’ expected.
”The competition within the network was extreme and being a city centre site the reality is that our overheads were unusually high.Even if you could sell the cars the margins simply weren’t there - it was a very expensive business because of its location. We tried to refocus on the north American cars we’d been working with the for the last twenty years, but we still had the problem that the overheads were too great for the opportunity represented.”
“Bauer Millett has always been a business known for being in the city centre - but the reality is the motor trade is going through a revolution. More businesses are closing down than opening, the industry is consolidating into big PLCS, and the competition is much more fierce.”
Mr Millet said administrators took the decision when to close the business.”The business has in one way or another existed my entire life and a bit longer so my personal and emotional connection has also been very strong.”
“I know it’s been very hard for the staff coming before Christmas but there’s never a good time - I know they understand the trading difficulties the company has encountered are not a recent thing and we have fought together over the last three years to turn it around. We have always been known for being a specialist car retailer and that’s become an
increasingly more difficult market. Used cars are harder to buy and more challenging to sell. There’s more and more people looking, the internet has made it easier for people to buy at auctions, its a lot easier for people to shop around from the comfort of their own home. I have always tried my hardest. We made it through the global recession without any staff being forced to take pay cuts or reduced hours, we tried to look after everybody as best we could and no staff have been left with salary owing. “There’s always a chance that somebody may continue Bauer Millett, but its an industry that’s polarising - you’re either very big or very small and I don’t think there’s an awful lot of space in the middle.”*
It would appear that there is now no Honda dealership in Liverpool. It seems that Lightcliffe, who won the Honda franchises in Liverpool, Southport and Warrington from Lookers a couple of years ago, have now completely lost the Honda franchise. Lightcliffe Honda Southport has now rebranded as "Southport Honda", while the Liverpool showroom on Sefton Street has presumably closed; the website has gone and there is no trace of a Liverpool dealership on the Honda website.
That will be a noticeable absence on Sefton Street; before Lightcliffe it was Lookers, and before that I believe it was Reynolds Honda; I believe Reynolds also had a massive Nissan/Fiat/Honda showroom (I believe it was also briefly Renault) on the way into Southport that closed around ten years ago.
I haven't been down Sefton Street for a while now, although the last time I noticed that the Honda dealer had moved into the bigger former Rybrook Volvo dealership, while the former Honda dealer is now "Arnold Clark Mazda".
That will be a noticeable absence on Sefton Street; before Lightcliffe it was Lookers, and before that I believe it was Reynolds Honda; I believe Reynolds also had a massive Nissan/Fiat/Honda showroom (I believe it was also briefly Renault) on the way into Southport that closed around ten years ago.
I haven't been down Sefton Street for a while now, although the last time I noticed that the Honda dealer had moved into the bigger former Rybrook Volvo dealership, while the former Honda dealer is now "Arnold Clark Mazda".
daveenty said:
Wacky Racer mentions a couple of old dealers in Bury, and there are a couple on an earlier post, but I've not seen the Standard Triumph dealer mentioned yet.
W & R Roberts on Tottington Rd. Can't remember when they shut down (a good while back now) but a friend of mine served his time there.
Hello, i worked at W & R Roberts 75-84 in Parts, Service & Sales, as it was my Uncle Stanley Newhouse's Garage who had taken it over from William & Richard Roberts who had a petrol Station on Tottington Road, What's your friends name i might remember him?W & R Roberts on Tottington Rd. Can't remember when they shut down (a good while back now) but a friend of mine served his time there.
Thanks, John.
I worked at Lex Bolton in the Parts Department in the mid 80's, before this i worked at my Uncles, (Stanley Newhouse) Austin/Morris Rover/Triumph Dealership in Bury W & R Roberts (Motors) Ltd in Parts, Service reception & Car Sales until we lost the Franchise to Lex Bury, i worked my way up to Parts Manager at Halls of Chorley S.G.L then S.G.L. Preston until Mg Rover went Bust!
Edited by Jonnyfatlegs on Monday 30th January 11:16
andicog said:
What about Livlock and Edwards Rover/Leyland dealer on coronation Rd in Crosby? (now Tesco) Or the other Leyland dealer on Bridge Rd near Blundellsands, was it Camerons? Ryders Ford in Crosby, Trimoco peugeot showroom on coronation Road Crosby was initially Smith and gardener, Audi and NSU, remember looking at the RO80 in there, they then took on the Nissan franchise.
I can also remember a dealer by the shell station at the top of South Rd waterloo.
Yes, it was Livock and Edwards up until Rover went kaput a few years ago.I can also remember a dealer by the shell station at the top of South Rd waterloo.
Edited by andicog on Saturday 30th August 22:02
I remember the dealer on Bridge Road too which I think was Cameron's as you say. It was quite a big building on 2 or 3 floors from what I remember (more or less opposite the motorbike dealers) and is now a block of flats. Also didn't they have a site on Crosby Road North by St Faiths church (couple of storeys high-may have been a repairs garage, it's from my early years
) It became the Esso petrol station handily named Cameron's and then redeveloped into the Tesco Express.Ryders became a furniture store after closing the Crosby site (and remaining at Knowsley Road sea forth for a while) and then became the charity shop as mentioned.
Remember Trimoco too, didn't they have the multi level building near Livock and Edwards too (opposite side 200 yards or so down-building still there as far as I know a solicitors I think) along with the service garage near the railway bridge on Mersey Road (now Delta Taxis garage, grrrr!). Company I used to work for bought a couple 205's from them in the early 90's (well the second was due to the first getting stuck on Ainsdale beach and flooded by the tide - nope it wasn't me
)Was Trimoco also at the Crosby Park Nissan site near the public toilet / library near College Road?
Am sure the dealer in the the Shell station forecourt was one of the two Crosby Motorworld sites, the other being down South Road in what is now Tony Almonds home & Garden store http://www.tonyalmond.co.uk/about.php
SCOUSE99 said:
Anyone remember Switch Car???
Big used car supermarket on Dunnings Bridge Road in Netherton, Liverpool. They seemed to do good business, despite the majority of their stock always seeming worse for wear; I remember looking at a three-year-old VW Polo that was covered in scuffs and had a flat tyre!
They were eventually bought out by Carcraft about 6/7 years ago, who promptly shut the site and moved the stock to their own showroom in Knowsley.
The showroom is still there now, and is literally falling to bits! Not sure whether Cacraft is still going. The last time I passed the Knowsley showroom the forecourt was empty.
Yes my dad made many trips over the road from work in his lunch to 'browse' (or waste his lunch time!) when he worked on Dunningsbridge Road. Site was empty for years, but passed a couple of weeks back and Motor Range have moved in from their Maghull site which is now empty.Big used car supermarket on Dunnings Bridge Road in Netherton, Liverpool. They seemed to do good business, despite the majority of their stock always seeming worse for wear; I remember looking at a three-year-old VW Polo that was covered in scuffs and had a flat tyre!
They were eventually bought out by Carcraft about 6/7 years ago, who promptly shut the site and moved the stock to their own showroom in Knowsley.
The showroom is still there now, and is literally falling to bits! Not sure whether Cacraft is still going. The last time I passed the Knowsley showroom the forecourt was empty.
Some more:-
Bought a new Triumph Spitfire Mk 4 from Henlys in Burnage in 1973.
Sports Motors...Plymouth Grove M/C
Boston Motor Company...Hyde
Ian Anthony Knutsford & Wilmslow
Hollindrakes Hyde & Stockport
Gordon Ford Stockport (Bought a new Ford Capri there in 1978)
Fred Fearnley...Droylsden
Quicks...Old Trafford
Manchester Garages (Ford) Manchester
Drabble & Allen...Manchester...(Jaguar)
Cowies...Blackburn...(Bought a new Ford Capri there in 1976)
Tom Gardner...Deansgate M/C
Skippers...Burnley...(Bought a new Ford Capri there in 1977)
Quicks...Bury (Bought a new Ford Capri there in 1979)
Finneys...Bury
Val Morton (American cars)....Ashton u Lyne
Kennings...Glossop
Premier Motors... Mossley
Bauer Millett...Peter Street...M/C
Blakes (Vauxhall)...M/C
Bought a new Triumph Spitfire Mk 4 from Henlys in Burnage in 1973.
Sports Motors...Plymouth Grove M/C
Boston Motor Company...Hyde
Ian Anthony Knutsford & Wilmslow
Hollindrakes Hyde & Stockport
Gordon Ford Stockport (Bought a new Ford Capri there in 1978)
Fred Fearnley...Droylsden
Quicks...Old Trafford
Manchester Garages (Ford) Manchester
Drabble & Allen...Manchester...(Jaguar)
Cowies...Blackburn...(Bought a new Ford Capri there in 1976)
Tom Gardner...Deansgate M/C
Skippers...Burnley...(Bought a new Ford Capri there in 1977)
Quicks...Bury (Bought a new Ford Capri there in 1979)
Finneys...Bury
Val Morton (American cars)....Ashton u Lyne
Kennings...Glossop
Premier Motors... Mossley
Bauer Millett...Peter Street...M/C
Blakes (Vauxhall)...M/C
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