Bauer Millett closes down..........

Bauer Millett closes down..........

Author
Discussion

Wacky Racer

Original Poster:

38,162 posts

247 months

rich83

14,232 posts

138 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
That's a great shame. Having lived in Manchester for ages and walked past that place hundreds of times... It's part of the landscape up there. I knew Mitch when I was up there and I know he won't be making this decision on a whim.... Such a shame.

mwstewart

7,607 posts

188 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
So it had been struggling for five years and the owner decides to tell everyone 'game over' two days before Christmas? I know things get tough at times but that's just crap management.

Roo

11,503 posts

207 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
The administrators decide when to pull the plug, not the management.

Shame, used to deal with them back in the TVR days.

berlintaxi

8,535 posts

173 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
mwstewart said:
So it had been struggling for five years and the owner decides to tell everyone 'game over' two days before Christmas? I know things get tough at times but that's just crap management.
Huge assumption, you don't know whether the bank called the overdraft in that morning for example, and left him no option.

mwstewart

7,607 posts

188 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
Even worse management then. It doesn't progress to such a state without prior warning.

berlintaxi

8,535 posts

173 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
Remind us how many companies you have owned in your time?

mwstewart

7,607 posts

188 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
berlintaxi said:
Remind us how many companies you have owned in your time?
Two.

berlintaxi

8,535 posts

173 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
mwstewart said:
berlintaxi said:
Remind us how many companies you have owned in your time?
Two.
Then I would have thought that you would understand that you try and keep trading for as long as you can, even when times are tough, and that sometimes timings regarding when it all ends are not in the hands of the owners.

vikingaero

10,336 posts

169 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
Selling the wrong sort of cars - Alfa, Chrysler, Jeep...

z06tim

558 posts

186 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
Such a shame. Feel sorry for all involved. Just shows how difficult it is to run a business like this when times have become so competitive.

mwstewart

7,607 posts

188 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
berlintaxi said:
Then I would have thought that you would understand that you try and keep trading for as long as you can, even when times are tough, and that sometimes timings regarding when it all ends are not in the hands of the owners.
Agreed, but you need to let it go and make the right decision with your team in mind once things have progressed beyond hope. For example the T&Cs of overdraft cancellation on my business accounts are 30 days. It enough to prevent the staff being laid off before Christmas.

I'm not saying the owner did a bad job in general - I don't know anything about him -just that closing down that close to Christmas could be avoided.

Wacky Racer

Original Poster:

38,162 posts

247 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
Great shame, bought two new Harley Davidsons's from them many years ago, found them OK to deal with.... always used to drool at the exotic cars from all over the world they had in the showroom in the seventies when they were in Peter Street....

One of the Iconic North West dealerships.

berlintaxi

8,535 posts

173 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
mwstewart said:
I'm not saying the owner did a bad job in general - I don't know anything about him -just that closing down that close to Christmas could be avoided.
beer

Agreed, but unfortunately he wasn't the only one, City-link pulled the plug just before Xmas as well.

Patrick1964

697 posts

231 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
It's a shame for many reasons, Mitch was a customer of mine when I sold race wear at Demon Tweeks, he's a decent chap. As for "selling the wrong types of cars" I would have thought that Pistonheads readers would applaud a dealer trying to make a living selling something other than Renault / Ford / VW diesel boxes. What happens to the prospects of Alfa owners in this part of the world if Mangoletsi stop selling them is worrying.

irish boy

3,535 posts

236 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
Gutted for them. Mitch was always very helpful on the corvette section of the forum.

vikingaero

10,336 posts

169 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
Patrick1964 said:
It's a shame for many reasons, Mitch was a customer of mine when I sold race wear at Demon Tweeks, he's a decent chap. As for "selling the wrong types of cars" I would have thought that Pistonheads readers would applaud a dealer trying to make a living selling something other than Renault / Ford / VW diesel boxes. What happens to the prospects of Alfa owners in this part of the world if Mangoletsi stop selling them is worrying.
I fully applaud them for selling PH cars like Alfas. However being PH and/or enthusiast does not pay the bills in a world of premium German Euroboxes

supertouring

2,228 posts

233 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
I actually walked passed there on Tuesday morning and was surprised by lack of cars parked up - the forecourt was usually full on the rare occasion I passed there previously.

I remember specifically passing their earlier showrooms due to all the fantastic cars they use to sell.

Shame to see this happen.

trashbat

6,006 posts

153 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
Lots of Fiat Group dealers must have been feeling the pinch for some time - not enough mass market products, either from Alfa or Chrysler, the former since 2010 and the latter more recently. It should start to change this year but still no quick answers.

KungFuPanda

4,333 posts

170 months

Saturday 27th December 2014
quotequote all
I work very close to there. You could tell something was up many months ago when a lot of their stock started disappearing from the forecourt.