3 John Banks Group

John Banks Group has spent four months transforming the former Wests of Cambridge workshop site into a state-of-the-art showroom for Renault and Dacia.

The East Anglian dealer group has become the 13th new Renault Group partner to join the franchise in the last 12 months.

The family-owned company, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, is already renowned for delivering outstanding customer service at its Honda and Suzuki dealerships in Cambridge, Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds.

Managing director Mark Banks said: “We are very excited to have secured Renault and Dacia and we’re confident it will be a successful new partnership. There are some exciting new vehicles in the range and new products to come, which is one of the reasons we took the franchises.

“Our new showroom has been completely refurbished and this is the first time in 11 years that Renault sales, aftersales and parts are all in one place in Cambridge, so it’s a great one-stop shop for our customers. Everyone I have spoken to has been really impressed with the new look of the showroom, and the new features we’ve introduced as part of the Renault Store concept have already proved extremely popular.”

The new state-of-the-art showroom is one of the first in the country to offer the Renault Store retail concept, which is divided into zones, making it easier for the customer to see what they want. Interactive displays and the chance to use the tablets provided also help improve the customer experience.

Welcoming the new dealership, Darren Payne, sales director, Renault Group UK, said: “We are delighted to have a successful and well-established dealership like John Banks Group join the Renault Group UK network and strengthen our presence in East Anglia with their fantastic new showroom.

“Expanding our dealer network is a key part of our GO5+ strategy for sustainable growth. This is an exciting time for Renault Group in the UK with our sales this year again growing significantly ahead of the market growth as our outstanding range of Renault and Dacia vehicles continues to find favour with many new customers to both brands.

“Our growth is set to continue as we enter new market segments with terrific new models like the all-new Renault Kadjar crossover plus the addition of exciting new franchises like John Banks in East Anglia which will secure the delivery of our ambitious but achievable growth objectives.”

Prominently located in Swann’s Road, John Banks Cambridge is staffed by an experienced team who have worked with Renault and Dacia for a number of years.

Renault Group sales – comprising of Renault cars, vans and Dacia – were up 15.2 per cent to 62,476 vehicles in the first six months of 2015 according to the latest SMMT figures. Of that total, Renault car sales for the first six months of this year represented 36,840 vehicles (up 14.9 per cent), Renault van sales stood at 11,169 (up 21.4 per cent) and Dacia 14,465 vehicles (up 11.5 per cent).