Rio Prestige gone?
Discussion
After a brief visit to Livingston Auto Parts I went to have a nosey at Rio it looks like they have packed up and gone. After a little bit of digging it seems that the cars have been shipped off (not sure if they are sold but plenty of people spotted the Zonda and others for sales a while ago) or some are being stored elsewhere and the office is shut.
Another thread on here indicated that they made a loss of £800k in 07/08 so if that continued then it was only a matter of time! I hope nobody has lost out if they have booked a hire or got vouchers for Christmas.
Anyone else heard anything?
Another thread on here indicated that they made a loss of £800k in 07/08 so if that continued then it was only a matter of time! I hope nobody has lost out if they have booked a hire or got vouchers for Christmas.
Anyone else heard anything?
They currently have no cars or premises, and their phone is diverted to a mobile.....
In the last 5 years they have lost just under £5 million (nosey me checked out companies house), so the CEO (CEO of an Indonesian investment fund, which is the investor behind Rio) decided that he will sell franchises in Rio (with the UK split into 6 regions). Franchisees were to pay £35,000 for each region each 2 years, plus 10% of their turnover to the Franchisor.
In his own words: "From a personal point of view, as the Director of the company, the Major benefit for RIO Prestige the (franchisor) is that it would free up the vital man hours required to concentrate on the core business of marketing and developing new strategies to ensure that RIO stays ahead of any competition. RIO has enjoyed being in poll position in this field since the beginning five years ago and it remains the company’s mission to stay ahead as it expands though the new franchised businesses.
In summary the reasons for franchising are obvious:
Increase market penetration and geographical reach
Eliminate day-to-day occupancy costs, payroll and operating expenses, which are put under the control of the Franchisee who has an obvious direct interest
Reduce Head Office and Field management costs (far fewer people are needed to run a Franchised business)
Develop the business with less capital, compared with more traditional methods
Reduce, or eliminate, the need to surrender equity or borrow heavily in order to expand the business"
Despite being very bullish about the number of people interested in buying franchises on the launch of the franchise sale back in November, to date none have been sold. I guess the other interested parties came to the conclusion that the value of a business model that managed to lose an average of £1m per year (through the boom years!) isn't very much....
He needed to vacate his current premises by the end of the week. He then jumped on a plane to Thailand on saturday morning without finding a new property to house Rio.
Rio has one member of staff remaining - in theory. Without cars or premises it must be difficult for a fleet manager to do any work. I guess he'll find out when his next pay packet arrives (or not) whether he still has a job.
I for one will be very sad if Rio were to drop out of the market, because I think if done properly there is a good business in that end of the market. But the franchise deal on the table isn't going to sell. Maybe there would be a chance after a year or two of profits?
Maybe someone still connected with Rio can come online and tell us what the real story is and what is planned for Rio coming into the spring rental season?
In the last 5 years they have lost just under £5 million (nosey me checked out companies house), so the CEO (CEO of an Indonesian investment fund, which is the investor behind Rio) decided that he will sell franchises in Rio (with the UK split into 6 regions). Franchisees were to pay £35,000 for each region each 2 years, plus 10% of their turnover to the Franchisor.
In his own words: "From a personal point of view, as the Director of the company, the Major benefit for RIO Prestige the (franchisor) is that it would free up the vital man hours required to concentrate on the core business of marketing and developing new strategies to ensure that RIO stays ahead of any competition. RIO has enjoyed being in poll position in this field since the beginning five years ago and it remains the company’s mission to stay ahead as it expands though the new franchised businesses.
In summary the reasons for franchising are obvious:
Increase market penetration and geographical reach
Eliminate day-to-day occupancy costs, payroll and operating expenses, which are put under the control of the Franchisee who has an obvious direct interest
Reduce Head Office and Field management costs (far fewer people are needed to run a Franchised business)
Develop the business with less capital, compared with more traditional methods
Reduce, or eliminate, the need to surrender equity or borrow heavily in order to expand the business"
Despite being very bullish about the number of people interested in buying franchises on the launch of the franchise sale back in November, to date none have been sold. I guess the other interested parties came to the conclusion that the value of a business model that managed to lose an average of £1m per year (through the boom years!) isn't very much....
He needed to vacate his current premises by the end of the week. He then jumped on a plane to Thailand on saturday morning without finding a new property to house Rio.
Rio has one member of staff remaining - in theory. Without cars or premises it must be difficult for a fleet manager to do any work. I guess he'll find out when his next pay packet arrives (or not) whether he still has a job.
I for one will be very sad if Rio were to drop out of the market, because I think if done properly there is a good business in that end of the market. But the franchise deal on the table isn't going to sell. Maybe there would be a chance after a year or two of profits?
Maybe someone still connected with Rio can come online and tell us what the real story is and what is planned for Rio coming into the spring rental season?
northo said:
Blue Cat said:
Well I am driving up to Edinburgh tomorrow for a meeting about this very subject. But I am fairly sure that RIO has not quite disappeared yet 
A-ha.....Edited by Blue Cat on Wednesday 17th February 22:05
Blue Cat said:
northo said:
Blue Cat said:
Well I am driving up to Edinburgh tomorrow for a meeting about this very subject. But I am fairly sure that RIO has not quite disappeared yet
A-ha.....And also - why can't you spell "past"!
it must be to do with the way the business was run and conducted, they had a great formula in which to make it work, surely there is something amiss with all this??
shame they had some great cars.
the laugh i made, when there 360 was rented to a mate for le mans 06 got backed into with a renault 19 esate and towbar, will stay with me till the grave!!
shame they had some great cars.
the laugh i made, when there 360 was rented to a mate for le mans 06 got backed into with a renault 19 esate and towbar, will stay with me till the grave!!
northo said:
Blue Cat said:
northo said:
Blue Cat said:
Well I am driving up to Edinburgh tomorrow for a meeting about this very subject. But I am fairly sure that RIO has not quite disappeared yet
A-ha.....And also - why can't you spell "past"!
As I have six meetings over the next day and half, I am going to be meeting a number of people and spending a lot of time on long distance phones calls, but not about to provide a detailed agenda on the General Gassing Forum of PH, I'm not quite that stupid
Blue Cat said:
northo said:
Blue Cat said:
northo said:
Blue Cat said:
Well I am driving up to Edinburgh tomorrow for a meeting about this very subject. But I am fairly sure that RIO has not quite disappeared yet
A-ha.....And also - why can't you spell "past"!
As I have six meetings over the next day and half, I am going to be meeting a number of people and spending a lot of time on long distance phones calls, but not about to provide a detailed agenda on the General Gassing Forum of PH, I'm not quite that stupid
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