Big Motoring World targets £1bn+ turnover with acquisition of Carshop sites

Big Motoring World has acquired three dealerships from CarShop, the used car supermarket division of Sytner Group.

CarShop's Sheffield and Norwich sites are reopening with the Big Motoring World branding this month, while the newly completed Camberley car supermarket will follow later in the year.

This acquisition follows the opening of three Big sites in 2023 and represents a continuation of Big’s strategy to achieve national coverage.

Last autum it expanded into the Midlands with the takeover of two car supermarkets previously operated by ID10 rival Available Car.

The group said it remains determined to grow its network to become the clear market leader in the car supermarket sector, which would require it to overtake Motorpoint, which currently is the only used car supermarket group that has national coverage.

Big Motoring World chief executive Laurence Vaughan (pictured) said: "The CarShop acquisition will take group turnover to more than £1 billion on an annualised basis, approximately doubling since 2022 and represents a huge step towards achieving our medium term plans.

"We have managed to substantially grow Big whilst delivering strong profits in a market that many competitors have found extremely challenging."

Company founder Peter Waddell sold part of his stake in Big Motoring World to investor Freshstream, which is one of the drivers of its expansion and brought in Vaughan, however it led to Waddell being ousted from the board, and he lost a High Court legal battle to be reinstated.

Waddell remains the majority shareholder, nevertheless.

Vaughan added: "The Big Motoring World model is built on providing outstanding value to customers backed up by excellent customer service. I am confident that we can continue to grow our brand to be the outstanding business in our sector.

"I’d like to welcome the more than 170 CarShop team members who have joined Big and assure them that we will invest in what are already good businesses to help take them to the next level.

"I should also like to thank all of my colleagues who have worked so hard on this transaction and on delivering for all our stakeholders regardless of market conditions."

The used car industry has been through some turbulent times recently, with price fluctuations and a difficult period of trading more broadly in the second half of 2023.

High profile struggles include Cazoo filing to put its remaining marketplace business into administration earlier this year, as well as Pendragon's new owners Lithia closing down nine CarStore operations and seven CarStore pods.