Nigel Vindis, joint director of Vindis Group, has died suddenly at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, aged 58.

He ran the 17 site dealer group with his brother Gary Vindis.

Jamie Vindis, operations director for the Vindis Group, told the Cambridge News: “For more than the last 40 years, Nigel and Gary have worked tirelessly to make Vindis Group the organisation that we are today.

“Nigel was extremely proud of the business he helped to build and all of the people within it, and almost all of our employees will have experienced first-hand the impact he had on the business daily, with his larger–than-life and irrepressible personality.

“Nigel was a dedicated family man, whose generosity knew no bounds. He never failed to bring light and laughter to any room. He truly was one of a kind, and irreplaceable.

“His loss casts a great shadow over us all.”

He is survived by his wife and two children.

Vindis Group was founded in 1960 by Nigel’s father Frank Vindis, a former WWII Spitfire pilot.

The group represents Audi, Bentley, Skoda and Volkswagen. The business also represents Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and owns and operates a bodyshop business which has achieved BSI Kitemark status.

It employs 750 people at 17 outlets across Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Bedforshire and Northamptonshire.