Former CD Bramall chairman Tony Bramall is back on the motor retail acquisition trail less than a year after selling his company to Pendragon for £230m.

Bramall teamed up with ex-CD Bramall chief executive Peter Jones to form Harrogate-based Bramall & Jones. The company has Audi dealerships in Lincoln and Grimsby - both once CD Bramall outlets and purchased from Pendragon - and another Audi site in Derby, acquired from Gilders. Now, it plans to have a network of up to 12 businesses over the next two years in the North-east, Yorkshire, the Midlands and the M62 corridor.

At the time of its formal disposal to Pendragon in March, CD Bramall was Britain’s fourth largest dealer group with 110 sites. The Pendragon acquisition created Europe’s largest group, turning over more than £3.5bn from 220 outlets.

Both Bramall and Jones are on record as saying they don’t want to create another CD Bramall giant. The Yorkshire Post quotes Jones: “We both wanted to go again but obviously on a much smaller scale.”