Williams and Peel confirm plans for £41m car showroom
Williams Group has revealed proposals to build a £41m car showroom and retail centre for BMW, Mini, Land Rover and Jaguar on a 14-acre plot off Barton Dock Road, part of Peel’s TraffordCity development.
Williams is planning to build a three-storey glass-fronted showroom on the 14.3 acre site, formerly home to a container base. The retail space will be primarily for BMW but will also have specialist space for a 10-car Mini outlet and an 18-car dual-branded Land Rover and Jaguar showroom.
The group will relocate its current showrooms from Upper Brook Street and Birchall Way in Manchester as part of the plans, and is aiming to start work in the summer, although a main contractor is yet to be appointed.
The build is expected to take around 12 months.
Around 240 staff will relocate from other Williams sites as part of the plans, which will also create an additional 20 jobs.
Williams Select, the group’s used car dealership, will move from Upper Brook Street to take space at the group’s existing Chester Road site, which is currently used to sell Minis. Williams BMW Motorcycles, also based at Chester Road, is unaffected by the plans.
The showroom will form part of the growing TraffordCity area near EventCity and the Trafford Centre, which has already seen the construction of a Holiday Inn Express, completed by Bowmer & Kirkland last year.
Nick Cook, Williams group managing director, said: “We operate one of the largest family groups of premium and luxury automotive retail centres in the country and continually invest and improve our business to benefit our staff and customers.
“One of the great advantages of TraffordCity will be ease of access for our customers wanting to enjoy the renowned Williams’ experience. They will also have access to the exceptional retail and leisure offering of intu Trafford Centre and its flagship stores including John Lewis which is adjacent to this site.”
James Whittaker, Peel Land & Property group development director, said: “BMW, Mini, Jaguar and Land Rover are exactly the kind of aspirational brands we wanted to attract to activate this part of TraffordCity, which is going through some fundamental improvements including the development of the new Trafford Park Metrolink line.”
