Steer accelerates growth plans with double acquisition

Steer Automotive Group is continuing to expand at a rapid pace with thte addition of 32 accident repair and bodyshop locations following the acquisition of Apollo Motor Group and Balgores Motors for undisclosed sums.

The two businesses have a combined £90 million turnover and 700 staff.

The acquisition extends Steer’s network further into the south of England and increases Steer’s scale and capacity in the region.

Plans are already in place to continue the development with a number of new sites planned over the second half of the year. 

Apollo Motor Group was founded in 1985 by Graham and Tracy Eyles, and has steadily expanded over the last 20 years with 20 sites located across the South East and South West of England.

Apollo is led by the current management team of Paul Clements, Chris Dore, Bradley Eyles and Mark Fletcher.

Balgores Motors was founded in 1982 by owner Paul Austin. With a strong regional footprint based out of Essex, the business has grown into 12 sites with a heavy bias towards prestige vehicle manufacturer approvals.

The team at Balgores is led by Gary Dench, Steve Austin and Andy Pennell.

Richard Steer, Steer chief executive, said: “I have known Graham, Tracy and Paul for many years and have watched the successful development of their businesses into the superb operations they are today.

“We have a clear focus on acquiring strong well established businesses that support our growth strategy and when the opportunity presented itself we jumped at the chance to add Apollo and Balgores to our operations.

“I’d like to personally thank Graham, Tracy and Paul for trusting us with the next chapter in the development of their companies.

“We are very excited about the prospects and look forward to working with the incumbent management teams on the journey ahead.”

Graham and Tracy Eyles, thanked all of Apollo’s colleagues, customers and partners over the years.

They added: “We’re very proud of what we’ve built at Apollo and when we decided it was time to let someone else take on the baton it was clear that Richard and the team at Steer were the obvious choice to do that.”

Apollo Motors Group, Balgores Motors take the existing Steer portfolio to 93 repair locations and over 2,200 colleagues.

Steer has been rapildy expanding with multiple acquisitions over the last 12 months, including Vertu's Newcastle bodyshop in May, as well as AW Accident Repair Centre, 11-site Artis Accident Repair Centres and Tyne Tees Vehicle Repair Group (TTVRG).

The business also opened its 28,000 sq ft flagship location in High Wycombe in October last year (pictured above), which specialises in repairing premium and luxury vehicle brands.