BOSSES at Benfield Motor Group have spoken about the process leading up to yesterday’s announcement that the company has been successfully acquired by Lookers plc.

Three years later it joined forces with a garage owner in the centre of Manchester to create Lookers Ltd which operated first as a Ford dealership and then selling Austin cars.

Vehicle dealership group Lookers has swooped for a £700m-turnover Newcastle rival which employs 1,600 staff across its 30 branches. It offers sales, service, parts and bodyshop facilities for new and used cars and commercial vehicles.

Addison Motors made a profit before tax of £7mln in 2014 on revenues of £700mln. Still based in Manchester, the company became a listed company on the London Stock Exchange and its acquisition of Benfield is likely to make it one of the top three dealer groups in the UK.

Lookers, which trades under the Taggarts and Lomond brands in Scotland, said the cash deal was funded by new banking facilities and is expected to provide an immediate boost to earnings.

Mark Squires, Benfield’s outgoing chief executive, said: ‘This was a very hard decision for our family to reach after all these years and so much company history.

Lookers chief executive, Andy Bruce, said the Benfield acquisition was a good “cultural fit” and would also help to expand Lookers’ presence in the north east.

“Lookers and Benfield share an approach which puts employees and customers at the heart of our business and this acquisition will ensure that continues”. Before the Benfield deal, it had more than 120 United Kingdom dealerships and employed more than 6,000 people.