Cartime is set to expand its used vehicle operations in Bury with the creation of a £1.2 million specialist used 4x4 showroom facility.

The new facility will be built on land opposite Cartime’s existing Bell Lane showroom, which was recently vacated due to the relocation of Farnell Land Rover, and will deliver a further 19,000 sq-ft of retail space on which to display 250 used premium off-roaders.

News of Cartime’s latest planned development comes just weeks after the business, founded by managing director Matt Kay, announced that it would be opening a second used car sales operation on Edinburgh Way, Rochdale.

The two new sites will take its Cartime’s total vehicle stock from 700 to 1,200 vehicles.  

Kay said: “Demand for used 4x4s in the North West is continuing to rise and we saw taking over Farnells’ vacant site as a huge opportunity for us.

“With more than 250 vehicles in stock at the site, we believe we will become one of the largest specialist used 4x4 centres in the North West.”

Cartime said that its latest sales figures showed that its sales of four-wheel drive vehicles have more than doubled in the past two years.

The prestige used car supermarket sells more than 60 each month, making up 20% of its monthly turnover, and with increased stock it expects sales to increase three-fold.  

Set to open in November, the new operation will include a fully refurbished customer sales centre along with an on-site aftersales centre and “a team of master technicians” which will specialise in servicing all makes and models of 4x4s, Cartime said in a statement.

Kay added: “2018 is proving to be a huge year of overall growth for the business. We’ve created a robust business model and invested heavily in our processes and technology to facilitate the expansion of our sales capacity – with new sales centres and vehicle stock.  The Cartime business will have more than doubled in size by the end of the year.”