About Sytner Group

Sytner Group History

In the 1960's Frank Sytner founded the Sytner Group with his brother Alan, owner of the famous Cavern Club. The first dealership was Sytner Nottingham, which opened in 1968 selling BMW's, a brand that would become very close to Frank's heart twenty years later.

In 1970 Frank began his racing career in Formula Ford 1600, then onto Clubmans Formula Ford 2000. After moving into British Touring Cars he became the BTCC Overall and Class B Champion in 1988, driving a Prodrive BMW M3 and continued a successful BTCC career for the next three years. Renowned for being highly competitive behind the wheel, Frank Sytner then focused his energies into building up the Sytner Group.

The expansion began in 1993 with the acquisition of a BMW dealership in Leicester, followed by a new BMW dealership in Sheffield. Sytner then diversified into other prestige marques in 1995, with the addition of the Group's first Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Audi dealerships in Bristol, Loughborough and Leeds respectively. In 1996 the first Sytner-owned PAG franchise was opened in the form of Land Rover Sheffield, followed by Chrysler Jeep Stockport, Land Rover Leeds and Rivervale Porsche in 1997. With the franchise count approaching double figures, the company name changed to Sytner Group PLC as it was floated on the stock market in 1997.

In 1998, a family-run Land Rover and Jaguar business in Thames Ditton was purchased from Mr Guy Salmon. This well-known name renowned for service and reliability later became the banner of all Sytner-owned Land Rover and Jaguar franchises. Additions were made to the BMW and Ferrari brand count in 1999, in the form of BMW City and Ferrari Sheffield.

Largest single acquisition

Undoubtedly the largest single acquisition in the Group's history was made during August 1999 in the form of the Ixion Motor Group. Overnight this almost doubled the number of franchises in the Group including: BMW Solihull and Gerrards Cross; Jaguar dealerships in Coventry, Northampton and Oxford; Land Rover in Coventry; Chrysler Jeep in Oxford and brand additions Volvo in Coventry, with Saab and Lexus in Oxford.
Between 2000 and 2001 the Group opened four new dealerships: Lexus Leicester, Jaguar in Stratford-upon-Avon, Wakefield Audi and Kings Chrysler Jeep in Liverpool. Sytner also acquired Mercedes-Benz of Weston-Super-Mare, Land Rover Stratford-upon-Avon and BMW High Wycombe from independent traders, as well as Bentley Manchester and Land Rover Knutsford from the Ron Stratton Group.

In 2002 the Sytner Group expansion plan gathered even more speed and experienced a major landmark in its history. It opened new Volvo dealerships in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and Twickenham, as well as the first of an array of Toyota franchises in Birmingham. Land Rover Wakefield was acquired by the Group and, due to a dramatic change in manufacturer direction, a total of six Mercedes-Benz dealerships located in Newbury, Milton Keynes, Kettering, Bath, Swindon and Gloucester were added to the Sytner portfolio.

American interest

During the same year, a major player in the American retail motor industry showed an interest in buying the Sytner Group. On February 12th 2002, Penske Automotive Group (PAG) (formerly United Auto Group (UAG)) announced a $135 million offer to purchase Sytner Group PLC. PAG recognised Sytner as an exciting opportunity to expand their operations in the UK, through a multi-franchise company who would compliment their brand portfolio, whilst being committed to similar values and aims. In addition to being a successful businessman, PAG Chairman Roger Penske, was no stranger to the world of motor racing. As the owner of Indy 500 Champions Penske Racing and a former racing driver, Roger shared a motorsport connection with Frank Sytner as well as similar business ethics.

Following the PAG acquisition, former Sytner Group Chief Executive Laurence Vaughan took up the position of Chairman and Gerard Nieuwenhuys became Managing Director. The majority of the senior Sytner management team, along with the Sytner Group mission statement remain unchanged. Today Frank Sytner is retained as an advisor to the board, whilst continuing his motorsport career by racing Historic sports cars on famous circuits such as Goodwood and Silverstone.

With opportunities for further investment and the backing of PAG, Sytner grew from strength to strength in 2003. Mercedes-Benz Cribbs Causeway kick-started the staggering expansion of a further eighteen Sytner-owned dealerships in the UK. These included six Toyota dealerships, three based in the Bristol area and three in South Wales, as well as two Lexus franchises located in Bristol and Cardiff. The BMW dealer count rose higher with acquisitions in Chigwell and Harold Wood. A new Porsche franchise located near the famous Silverstone racing circuit was opened in June 2003. Following this, two Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Bedford and Northampton were purchased. Lexus Birmingham, Land Rover Stockport, Audi Bradford and Bentley Birmingham were also purchased during 2003, running up to a new Chrysler Jeep franchise in Gloucester in 2004.

Expansion into Scotland

During 2004 two multi-dealership acquisitions were made - Aston Green Ltd and Glenvarigill Ltd. Aston Green more than doubled the number of Audi dealerships in the group with a cluster of locations including Slough, West London, Reading, Guildford, Victoria and Mayfair. Glenvarigill enabled Sytner to expand North of the border into Scotland with additions to the specialist division. This boasted Porsche, Bentley, Ferrari and Maserati representation in Edinburgh, along with a Porsche Centre in Glasgow. Further developments in 2004 included a brand new Toyota dealership in Tamworth and a spectacular new Ferrari and Maserati dealership in Nottingham, merging the two former sites operating from Loughborough and Sheffield. The acquisition of Harrogate Audi from Massingberd strengthened the existing Sytner-owned Audi presence in the North.

2005 saw some exciting developments for Sytner BMW and MINI with the opening of a new super-site in High Wycombe, merging two smaller sites in High Wycombe and Gerrards Cross and a new retail outlet in the exclusive Docklands area in London. A further Chrysler Jeep franchise in Swindon was added mid way through the year. Godfrey Hall BMW Coventry was acquired at the end of 2005, giving the group another large BMW dealership in a strategically important area.

To keep pace with the growth of the company a new head office building was purchased which brought the majority of the group's central services under one roof, including a new training centre, customer contact centre and IT support - the balance of Sytner's head office moved into this new facility just off junction 21 of the M1 during 2006.

2006 began with the acquisition of the William Jacks Group Plc, consisting of 15 franchises representing BMW, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, MINI, Rolls-Royce and Volvo and continued with Chrysler Jeep in Bristol acquired from the Dick Lovett group.

Continued growth

The Sytner Group continues to grow at an impressive rate, as well as showing an excellent performance within the prestige and specialist market. In 2007, acquisition continued a pace with the acquisition of 9 Ryland businesses; these included the DaimlerChrysler Dealerships in Carlisle, Newcastle upon Tyne, Stockton on Tees and Sunderland, together with the BMW and MINI Dealerships at Cardiff, Newport, Birmingham Central, Warley and Sutton Coldfield.

Later in 2007 Sytner added to the year’s acquisitions with the Nottingham and Leicester Audi Businesses, previously owned by the John Fox Group. Plus, the exciting acquisition of Maranello Egham, further adding to Sytner's Ferrari and Maserati portfolio.

Simply 'click here' to find your local Sytner dealership from the full range of manufactures that we proudly represent.

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