Telephone: 01977 522800

Peter Ambrose transitions to Employee Owned Business

The ownership of franchised car retail business Peter Ambrose Peugeot is set to start a “new chapter” under new ownership after being sold to a trust formed by its employees.

Founder and managing director Peter Ambrose will remain in position as part of a handover process of the £25 million turnover business – located on Methley Road, Castleford, West Yorkshire – to the newly-formed Peter Ambrose (Castleford) Trustee operation.

The business’s new leadership team will comprise of sales director David Brown, aftersales director Christian Firth, finance director Dianne Harrison and chairman Paul Keaveney.

Ambrose, who established the business in 1999, said: “It’s a very exciting time for the company with lots of opportunities as we move into a new age that will be more and more dominated by electric and hydrogen vehicles.

“I knew I was going to sell the business one day, but I wanted the structure to be right and the option of creating an EOT really appealed to me.

“We’ve always put our people at the heart of our operations so this option felt like a natural transition as the business will remain in the hands of those who have made it what it is.

An employee ownership trust (EOT) can allow business owners to sell a controlling stake in their company to realise their value whilst passing the company into long term employee ownership.

The EOT is operated by trustees, and the beneficiaries are the employees of the company at any given time.

Jane Parry, managing partner and head of tax at PM+M, and Jonathan Cunningham, manager in the tax team at PM+M, provided tax and transaction advice to the company, the shareholders and the trustees of the new EOT.

Brabners provided additional legal advice for the Trustees, meanwhile, whilst Tony Tinker of TT Business Services Ltd delivered accounting support.

Ambrose said: “I originally bought the company from Peugeot 22 years ago under a management buyout (MBO) scheme so it feels like we’re coming full circle as the employees will have a similar opportunity to further grow the business for the benefit of our customers as well as current and future staff. 

“I will continue to work closely with the management team, supporting them to ensure we continue to develop and maintain our philosophy of putting the customer first in all our transactions.”

Peugeot's transition to zero emissions-capable electric vehicles (EV) gathered pace this year with all its MPVs transitioning to full EV drivetrains, the unveiling of the new e-308 EV and, last week, the opening of order books for its new 408 Fastback.

Latest News

A change to our opening hours

14-01-2023 Importance Announcement – As you will know, on the 1st November 2022 Peter…
Read more

New Peugeot 408 Revealed

05-07-2022 Just 3 weeks after the official UK launch of the new 308 and 308 SW, we are very…
Read more

Peter Ambrose (Castleford) Limited is an Appointed Representative of Automotive Compliance Ltd, who is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA No 497010). Automotive Compliance Ltd’s permissions as a Principal Firm allows Peter Ambrose (Castleford) Limited to act as a credit broker, not as a lender, for the introduction to a limited number of lenders and to act as an agent on behalf of the insurer for insurance distribution activities only.

 

We can introduce you to a selected panel of lenders, which includes PSA Finance UK. An introduction to a lender does not amount to independent financial advice and we act as their agent for this introduction. Our approach is to introduce you first to PSA Finance UK, who are usually able to offer the best available package for you, taking into account both interest rates and other contributions. If they are unable to make you an offer of finance, we then seek to introduce you to whichever of the other lenders on our panel is able to be make the next best offer of finance for you. Our aim is to secure the best deal you are eligible for from our panel of lenders. Lenders may pay a fixed commission to us for introducing you to them, calculated by reference to the vehicle model or amount you borrow. Different lenders may pay different commissions for such introductions, and PSA Finance UK also provide preferential rates to us for the funding of our vehicle stock and also provide financial support for our training and marketing. But any such amounts they and other lenders pay us will not affect the amounts you pay under your finance agreement, all of which are set by the lender concerned. If you ask us what the amount of commission is, we will tell you in good time before the Finance agreement is executed. All finance applications are subject to status, terms and conditions apply, UK residents only, 18’s or over. Guarantees may be required.