A MAJOR car dealership has announced a sudden closure with staff left “shocked and angered”.
BCA revealed it is shuttering it’s branch in Banbury, Oxfordshire, with hundreds now set to lose their jobs.
1
The company , which dubs itself “Britain’s biggest” used vehicle business, is closing their Chipping Warden site.
It will relocate business to existing Bedforshire and Northamptonshire operations.
Employees were told of the unexpected move late last month, and given 45 days to prepare.
The final working day will be March 14 before shutters are pulled down permanently.
Staff claimed the news hit “out of the blue” leaving them “shocked and angered”, as reported by Banbury Guardian.
One said: “There are now a lot of people at BCA very upset about the decision.
“We had no notice, the announcement about 200 redundancies and the centre relocating to Bedford just came completely out of the blue.
“Just before Christmas we were getting told to up production and we were smashing a lot more cars out than normal and this is the thanks we get for it!”
The staff member, who is in their 60s, shared fears they will be “too old” to find another job while being too young to retire.
They added how they’ve been “thrown into limbo” over the move.
The Chipping Warden site has been running for nine years.
A spokesperson for BCA said: “BCA confirmed that the Chipping Warden Remarketing Centre is set to relocate to other sites it operates in Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire and has opened consultation with staff.
“Like all businesses, BCA needs to evolve its operational base in line with its growth journey and the changing external environment and needs of our customers to ensure we continue to provide market leading service and support.”
This comes as another car dealership closed down five showrooms when business folded after 22 years.
Marsh Holdings Limited, based in Exeter, Devon, was forced to shut up shop – just months after it sold its Kia franchise.
Elsewhere, another longstanding car dealer axed six locations across UK in its biggest round of closures ever after cutting 250 jobs.
Meanwhile, a third landmark company revealed their sudden closure under plans to chop a whopping 50 sites.
Why are so many car dealerships closing down
By Summer Raemason
According to Business Rescue Expert there are multiple reasons why car dealerships are folding across the UK.
The first major factor is rising online car sales which are beating in-person sales at dealerships.
With an extensive range of comparison and second-hand sites to chose from, may car buyers don’t even step foot into a dealership anymore.
Secondly, the actual cost to physically run the sites has soared.
Rent, wages and energy bills have all been increasing for roughly the past five years, putting many out of pocket.
Car manufacturing across the globe was also hit by a semiconductor chip shortage in 2022 which made it difficult to produce new motors.
The high demand with limited supply created a backlog, which although has eased, is still having an impact on the industry.
A third reason for recent closures is the shift to electric cars.
They are becoming more popular, given the Government initiative to be Net Zero in 2050.
The industry is also affected when companies merge or are bought by rivals.
This may lead to some independent names falling victim to the ongoing spate of closures.