John Banks Group expands into Essex with multi-site Colchester location

John Banks Group is opening three new dealerships in Colchester with a multi-site Honda cars, motorcycles and Mazda business.

A destination centre for Honda road and off-road motorcycle customers is under construction and due to be opened on June 1.

The dealerships, located on the site of the former Underwoods dealership, offers John Banks Group the opportunity to expand into Essex from its current Cambridgeshire and Suffolk regional footprint.

The growing multi-franchise business has locations in Cambridge, Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and now Colchester.

The group also represents Hyundai, Dacia, Suzuki, Renault and Alpine.

John Banks Group acquired the Underwoods location earlier this year following a series of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) reshuffles of their franchise dealer networks.

This resulted in Underwoods closing its Vauxhall, Skoda and Kia showrooms in Colchester and transitioning to focus on used car sales and all-makes servicing.

Underwoods managing director Gerry Wiggins told the Essex County Standard at the end of March that it was with “great sadness” that the Skoda site was closed after almost 20 years serving the area.

Wiggins said the decision to close was 'not one of Underwoods making', adding: “Skoda has decided to reduce the number of dealers in their network, with an increased focus towards online sales.”