Aston Barclay’s auctions centres in Prees Heath and Wakefield have enjoyed a record start to 2020 as demand for record used car volumes continues.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Volvo retailer Hatfields Group celebrated selling £1m of used cars in a single sale for the first time at Prees Heath, disposing of 88 cars at an average of 100% of Cap Clean.

The Wakefield site, meanwhile, celebrated its first anniversary by selling 316 used cars in a single fleet sale, including entries from LeasePlan (now trading as CarNext), TCH, Zenith, Santander, Leasys, Vauxhall Finance, Liquid Fleet and The Car Buying Group.

Neil Hodson, Aston Barclay’s group chief executive, said: “Our group performance and the used market in general has been very strong in January and February for the dealer and fleet sector as the Hatfields and Wakefield performance has reinforced.

“Pent up consumer used car demand has meant huge pressure on the wholesale market for new stock. This demand looks set to continue during the March plate change and beyond.”

Hatfields’ remarketing success with Aston Barclay followed a move by the dealer group to prepare its used cars to Grade 1 & 2 standard.

Hatfields has also fully embraced Aston Barclay digital platforms including holding a weekly ‘Live’ online auction at Prees, with any unsold or overage stock being offered on the Aston Barclay e-Xchange wholesale platform.

Hatfields is just one dealer group that has contributed to the growth of e-Xchange which has already sold a few hundred cars for vendors before they reach physical auction.

Paul Turner, Hatfields’ remarketing manager, said: “Over the past six months we have actively prepared our cars to a higher standard and the majority are now Grade 1 and 2.

“This means buyers can get their auction purchases to market quickly with less spend, which has contributed to an increase in sales.

“With a consistent quality of cars offered the Aston Barclay team has built up a good clientele of buyers in the hall and online each Friday.”