JCT600 to close five car dealerships in West Yorkshire after ending partnership with carmaker Stellantis

The Bradford-headquartered company said its Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroen dealerships on Sticker Lane in Bradford will close with immediate effect, and its Vauxhall dealership in Castleford and Peugeot in Menston will close in summer 2023.

The Citroen dealership opened last year after an extensive redevelopment programme.

JCT600 said that the changes affected 100 colleagues, over 90 per cent of whom have been offered alternative roles at other dealerships within the group.

A spokesperson for JCT600, which operates 10 other dealerships in Bradford, said the discussions with Franco-Italian carmaker Stellantis had been happening for several months followed by a period of consultation with employees.

The move will coincide with the relocation of the company’s specialist body shop from Bradford to a new site adjacent to JCT600’s luxury vehicle dealerships in Leeds to reduce unnecessary vehicle movements. All staff employed at this site will retain their jobs.

John Tordoff, chief executive of JCT600, said: “Given the huge global changes in recent years, we have to ensure that the business is fit for purpose for the future.

"This has required us to make some difficult choices to ensure we invest our resources and manpower in the brands where we are seeing the greatest customer demand, particularly those which are focusing on developing greener, electric vehicles and providing outstanding customer support.”

He added: “We have done our best to ensure that the vast majority of colleagues impacted by the changes are offered jobs at other local JCT600 businesses close to where they live.”

Plans are already underway to transform both the Castleford and Menston sites into single brand sites for Kia (Castleford) and Seat/Cupra (Menston). In Bradford, JCT600 is exploring a number of options for Sticker Lane including a redevelopment of the site which would attract other retail businesses and employment to the area.

Accounts recently filed at Companies House show that JCT600 more than doubled profits to £45m in 2021 as turnover rose 16.9 per cent to £1.3bn. The company said it was the best trading performance in its 75-year history.

The family-run dealership group represents 25 brands across more than 50 locations in the north of England.

During the year founder, chairman and shareholder Jack Tordoff died at the age of 86 following a lengthy illness.