The History of Marshall Motor Group
1909
Marshall of Cambridge was established in 1909 by David Gregory Marshall, in a small lock-up garage in Brunswick Gardens, Cambridge as a chauffeur drive company, which was an immediate success and prompted the move to larger premises in Kings Street in 1910.
1914 - 1918
During the 1914-1918 War, the company’s premises, which had relocated to Jesus Lane in 1912 when the trade expanded to include selling cars, were used for servicing and repairing of vehicles required for the war effort.
1920
A chance meeting with Sir Herbert (later Lord) Austin during the Great War when David Marshall’s reserved occupation was as a catering manager, resulted in Marshall being awarded the Distributorship for Austin in Cambridgeshire immediately after the war, although the formal contracts were not signed until 1920.
1937
The company purchased the necessary farmland and in 1937 the new Cambridge Airport was officially opened by the then Secretary of State for Air, Sir Kingsley Wood. This was very opportune for re-armament was becoming an urgent national priority, along with the need for even more facilities for military aircrew training.
1945
The opening of the Company’s second airfield presented Marshall with an opportunity to open a second garage, known as Airport Garage. Having been closed down as part of the war effort during the Second World War, both garages re-opened in 1945, with Jesus Lane concentrating on Austin Cars and Airport Garage focusing on Austin Trucks.
1970
The nationalisation and subsequent privatisation of the British
motor manufacturing industry during the 60s/70s/80s saw Marshall’s
franchise base broaden to include most of the well-known British
marques: Austin, Morris, Rover, Jaguar, Triumph, Land Rover, Leyland,
Rolls Royce Bentley and Aston Martin.
1990
Peter Johnson joined Marshall Motor Group in 1990 and left in 1995
1995
Marshall Motor Group was one of the first to develop a
purpose-built multi-franchise operations with the opening of the
Marshall Car Centre on Newmarket Road in Cambridge, utilising land
already owned by the company. Parts Warehouse with a large dedicated
used car operation, a 60,000ft2 parts warehouse and 8 franchise specific
showrooms and workshops, this innovative new concept led the industry.
2008
Daksh Gupta joins Marshall Motor Group - he has over 20 years’ experience in the automotive retail sector and
joined the Company in 2008 as its Chief Executive Officer.
2009
Marshall Motor Group acquired two businesses in 2009, 3 Honda
dealerships from De Vries: Hull Honda, Scarborough Honda and York Honda
and acquired one Jaguar dealerships in Ipswich. A number of new
start-ups were added to the retail portfolio, which included Ipswich Kia
and Cambridge Hyundai.
2010
Mercedes Benz Area 5 was awarded to Marshall Motor Group, giving the
Group its first premium German franchise brand. The acquisition
broadened Marshall Motor Group’s geographical presence away from East
Anglia to the North West of England, with Mercedes Benz dealerships at
Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Preston and South Lakes.
2011
The acquisition of a number of dealerships from Pilling Motor Group,
increased the group’s exposure to Volvo, Renault, Dacia and Mazda. The
Group also added to its Honda business with the acquisition of Harrogate
Honda.
2012
The acquisition of F-Cross and Son enabled Marshall Motor Group to add
the additional franchise brand of VW in Scunthorpe Passenger cars (PC)
and Commercial Vehicles, Grimsby VW (PC) and Scunthorpe Kia.
2013
With the acquisition of Silver Street the Group increased its exposure
to VW, adding a further 5 VW dealerships and also introducing a new
premium German brand, with 4 Audi dealerships. The acquisition provided
Marshall Motor Group with an extension to its geographical reach, with
sites based in the South West of England: Plymouth, Barnstaple, Exeter
and Taunton.
2014
Saw the start of the second phase of the Group’s strategy to implement the "Vision". (See section on Vision). The acquisition of Crystal Motor Group was core to increasing the Marshall Motor Group’s exposure to the premium motor retailing sector with the acquisition of BMW and Mini, with sites located at Scunthorpe and Grimsby.
2014
The Group’s first prestige brand, Maserati was opened in Peterborough mid 2014.
2014
Peter Johnson re-joins Marshall Motor Group as Non Executive Chairman in 2014
2014
Mark Raban Joins Marshall Motor Group as Chief Financial Officer in 2014
2015
Following an extensive audit of our management and HR practices Marshall
Motor Holdings PLC were named by the Great Place to Work Institute as
one of the UK’s Best Large Workplaces. Achieving a ranking of 26th in
the Best Large UK Companies category.
2015
Marshall Motor Group acquire S G Smith for £24.4 Million taking the group to 76 franchise locations, 19 counties and in excess of £1.2 Billion in turnover.
SGS brand partners are Audi in the Wimbledon, Coulsdon, Bexley and Beckenham market areas; Skoda in Croydon; and Mercedes Benz commercial (after sales only) in Croydon. The acquisition extends Marshall’s footprint into new and attractive geographic territories, being the Kent, Surrey and London markets.
2016
Marshall completed the purchase of Ridgeway Garages (Newbury) Limited (“Ridgeway”) on the 26th May 2016 which is by far the largest acquisition the group has made to date, and we are very pleased to be welcoming 1,333 new colleagues to the Group.
Ridgeway is a successful multi-franchise dealer group with 2015 revenues of £723m, operating across the affluent southern home-counties, Wiltshire and Dorset representing 12 brands via 30 franchise dealerships. In addition, Ridgeway operates five own branded used car outlets, two trade parts specialists and two standalone body shops alongside a large group pre-delivery inspection centre.
May 2019
Marshall Motor Holdings PLC were named by the Great Place to Work Institute as one of the UK’s Best Super Large Workplaces. Achieving a ranking of 11th in the Best Super Large UK Companies category.
April 2020
Marshall Motor Holdings PLC were named by the Great Place to Work Institute as one of the UK’s Best Super Large Workplaces. Achieving a ranking of 12th in the Best Super Large UK Companies category.
Named by Great Place to Work UK as one of the Best UK Workplaces for the sixth year running, and it’s now the tenth year in succession that we have achieved Great Place to Work status through our high survey scores.