Vertu Motors becomes biggest BMW motorbike retailer in Britain

Vertu Motors has become the largest UK seller of BMW motorcycles after acquiring a pair of dealerships in Yorkshire from a long-running family business.

The automotive retailer revealed on Tuesday it had bought two BMW Motorrad establishments in Shipley and Rotherham from the Saltaire Motor Company, which trades under the brand name Alan Jefferies.

These showrooms have now become part of the Vertu Motorcycles business, adding to its existing BMW outlet in Sunderland and three Honda bikes branches.

Acquisition: Automotive retailer Vertu Motors revealed it had bought two BMW Motorrad establishments in Shipley and Rotherham from the Saltaire Motor Company

Vertu said it had spent an estimated £4.2million buying the newest sites, with £1.85million of this figure related to a freehold property value and another £500,000 as the result of a goodwill payment.

It warned that these outlets are set to bring a financial loss for the remaining four months of the fiscal year due to the seasonality of motorbike purchases, but the firm expects to turn a profit in the first whole year of ownership.

BMW began producing motorcycles about a century ago when it was temporarily prevented from building aircraft engines by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles that followed World War I.

The company’s first-ever model, the R32, incorporated a flat-twin boxer engine, a configuration it still uses today and which broke the land speed record in 1929.

Last year, BMW Motorrad sold a record 194,261 units worldwide, a 14.8 per cent increase on the previous 12 months, helped by strong demand across Europe, China and the United States.

In the UK, where they operate dozens of outlets, it was the largest seller of ‘big bikes,’ with a 16.6 per cent market share.

Robert Forrester, Vertu’s chief executive, said: ‘Our business is performing strongly, and the addition of two further BMW Motorrad outlets will be accretive both financially and strategically to the group.’

Vertu Motors shares were up 4.3 per cent to 47.6p by the late afternoon on Tuesday, although their value has slumped by 35 per cent since the start of 2022.

Like many other British automobile retailers, Vertu has benefited handsomely over the past 18 months from semiconductor shortages driving higher prices for both new and old vehicles.

Sales have somewhat slowed in recent months as heightened inflationary pressures have caused consumers to make fewer big-ticket purchases, with revenue in the six months ending August only 3.9 per cent higher year-on-year.

Yet the business said it anticipated annual earnings would surpass market expectations due to strong margins offsetting weaker volume sales resulting from supply chain constraints.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk