Sunderland car showroom jobs under threat as firm announces plans to cut 1,800 posts

Pendragon has three Evans Halshaw dealerships in the city, selling Renault, Nissan and Dacia models, and also operates the Stratstone luxury car outlet and service centre on the A690 near Newbottle.

The firm took over 96 Reg Vardy dealerships when it bought the iconic Sunderland brand in 2005.

The company has today, Thursday, July 30, announced plans to closed 15 of its branches and cut around 1,800 jobs nationwide.

It says the impact of Covid-19 has accelerated a review of its future operating model which had already commenced before the pandemic struck.

Today’s statement to the Stock Exchange says a total of approximately 400 redundancies are expected from the showrooms closures, while a further 1,400 redundancies are planned as part of a move to a slimmed-down business model.

The company has not said which branches are to close.

Chief executive Bill Berman said: "These have been difficult decisions for the Board to make and our priority now is to manage the transition to our new operating model.

"The Covid-19 pandemic is a uniquely challenging situation and we want to protect as many jobs as we can sustainably and the proposed redundancies are, of course, extremely regrettable. During the pandemic we have focused on ways to improve workflow, efficiency and our digital capabilities.

"It is paramount that we embed these behaviours into all areas of the business, as we expect the economic environment to remain challenging. The actions that we are undertaking are for the long-term health and success of the Group and ensure that we emerge from the pandemic as a more competitive and stronger business with the ability to thrive in the future.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank every one of our employees for the hard work that has been done to reopen our businesses from lockdown. I am proud of the essential work we undertook to assist key workers during lockdown and for the way we have served our customers in store and online during these difficult times."

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Sunderland Echo website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit here to sign up. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here. Thank you.