Vehicle remarketing specialist launches physical car auction following record year
Vehicle remarketing specialist G3 Remarketing is investing £500,000 in the launch of a physical car auction in Leeds. The news follows a record year in which the company hit the £4m turnover mark, with £900,000 profits.
Established in 2009 as an online vehicle remarketing specialist for the fleet, finance and contract Hire sectors, G3 has grown to become a well-known independent brand in the digital arena. Yet having worked hard to improve the customer experience for vendors and purchasers of end of lease cars, the company has encountered wider demand for its services in different areas of the motor trade.
G3’s four acre headquarters is therefore being redeveloped to make way for a new physical auction hall for the non-prime finance returns and part exchange market. Set to cater for car supermarket vehicles of up to £5,000 in value, the site will soon house a 30,000sqft viewing auditorium, buyers’ lounges, vehicle preparation facility and space to store up to 200 vehicles under cover.
The project is set for completion at the end of January, ahead of the new weekly auctions commencing on 2 February and every Tuesday evening thereafter.
Commenting on the expansion, G3’s joint director Matt Dale said: “The company was founded because we believed there was the need for a high quality, independent, live online car auction in the industry. We’ve perfected the technology for this type of trade, and worked hard to raise the bar, ensuring every vendor and buyer is looked after from start to finish.
“However we’ve been increasingly approached by buyers and vendors of part exchange vehicles, who seek the same quality of service but still want to see, hear, touch and smell the cars. Given we’re ideally situated off the M62 and M1, we’re therefore extending our offering to echo the same level of standards within physical auctions too. We feel there is a really compelling argument to establish a truly independent, customer focused auction facility to serve not only the north of England but the entire UK.”
The physical auction is already off to a strong start with national car supermarket brand Available Car already signed up to provide 100 sensibly-priced vehicles per week.
G3’s loyal online customers will also benefit from the development. The £0.5m investment includes the construction of a £150,000 state-of-the-art inspection studio, which will allow HD images and videos to be captured of all vehicles remarketed through the company. Such media-rich inspection reports are unique to the industry, and will provide a further quality control dimension to the audio walk around narratives already provided. The online platform is also being streamlined to accept virtual bids for the Tuesday night events and a new company website – when revealed in February – will make the entire experience more professional and comprehensive.
Focusing initially on the market in the North of England, there are already plans to acquire further acreage, which will double the size of G3’s Leeds-based headquarters. Thereafter, the longer term aim is to expand both online and physical auction sales throughout the UK, either organically or via acquisition.
Matt continues: “Having started out with only five employees we are very proud of our journey in the online arena to date and we will continue to improve our service to our loyal online vendors and buyers.
“It’s now very exciting to be able to support a new pool of customers, whilst doubling our workforce by the end of January and then again within the following 12 months.”
G3 is celebrating the expansion by giving away 14 cars between now and the end of April. Every Tuesday, one lucky buyer will be automatically refunded the hammer price of the car, at the end of the sale. This will continue at every Tuesday auction thereafter, until 30 April 2016. A nearly new Citroen C1 is also on offer to auction attendees, irrespective of whether they buy a vehicle or not. As a further incentive, buyer premiums will be reduced to only £99 + VAT during this three month launch period.
Taking place every Tuesday evening from 17:30, the auction is open to both the trade and members of the general public. Online pre-registration is advised at www.g3remarketing.co.uk.
For further information about the contents of this press release or to arrange an interview with the G3 directors, please contact Katie Mallinson on T: 07751 615110 or E: Katie@scribapr.com.
The first physical car auction will take place on 2 February 2016 from 17:30, and run every Tuesday thereafter. Bids will still be accepted online for these Tuesday events. The existing online-only auctions will continue every Wednesday (off-site) and Thursday (dedicated on-site online sale).
G3 is based at Premier Way, Oulton, Leeds, LS26 8ZA just off the M62 and M1 motorways. The company directors Matt Dale and Amanda Holtby both began their careers in the physical car auction industry.
Turnover for G3’s previous financial year was £3.2m, with profits of £591,000.
G3 Remarketing is part of the G3 Group of companies, which also includes pool fleet management, bespoke software solutions and asset management.
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