Agnew Group announces ‘potential reduction’ of 106 employees

Pre-Covid the company emmployed 1062 which it said could mean a loss of up to 106 employees.

“But we’re still going through the consultation process and offering alternative employment where available,” a spokeswoman told the News Letter.

The ongoing consultation process covers both voluntary and compulsory redundancies.

She did not say how many staff, if any, have been on furlough.

Pre-pandemic, the company said it was selling over 21,000 new and used vehicles annually, with an annual turnover over £488m.

It operates 15 dealerships in the areas of Belfast, Newtownabbey and Portadown, representing nine brands; Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Porsche, SEAT, smart, Volvo, Volkswagen.

“Having modified working practices to enable social distancing and reduce the spread of COVID-19, the Agnew Group has now traded for over three months in a new operating environment,” it said in a statement. “Given the operational changes, the company conducted a review of staffing requirements and regrettably has announced a potential 10% reduction in staff.  

“In line with government advice and guidance, the business made a series of changes to working practices to ensure the safety of customers and staff when it officially reopened its sales and aftersales operations in June 2020.

“We have been operating reduced opening hours, introduced a new telephony service and made a series of digital improvements to the sales process to protect customers.  The feedback surrounding the changes has been positive in terms of the protection that they provide to customers and staff. However, as the pandemic is ongoing it is likely that these changes will remain in place for the foreseeable future.  

“The alterations have meant that regrettably that a number of roles that are no longer required and unfortunately we have had to commence redundancy negotiations.  This has been a very difficult decision for the company as we truly value our employees.

“Despite a busy trading period since reopening, we are still significantly behind on our year to date financial position. The company has a responsibility to manage the cost base, and drive efficiencies to enable us to operate a sustainable and resilient business to meet future market conditions”.  

The Agnew Group was established in 1931 by The Agnew Family.  In January 2012, the Agnew Group became part of the Sytner Group of companies, the UK’s largest motor retailer whose parent company is Penske Automotive Group Inc, listed on NYSE. The business represents nine manufacturer brands across 14 dealership locations and five additional business entities including a standalone Used Car Outlet, Contract Leasing, Trade Parts, Body Shop and Trade Auction.

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