Shelbourne Motors celebrates five decades with launch of major renovations across its Northern Ireland franchise dealerships

One of Northern Ireland’s largest family-owned vehicle retailers is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the launch of a £3m capital investment programme across its multi-franchise retail sites.

The multi-million-pound investment will see Shelbourne Motors undertake a major programme of renovations and upgrades across its multi award-winning franchise dealerships in Portadown and Newry.

The renovations commenced with the Nissan dealership in Portadown adopting the Japanese car manufacturer’s new visual identity. This included the erection of new signage featuring the brand’s new logo and the updating the showroom into a striking and modern retail space.

The capital investment programme will continue across the vehicle retailer’s Portadown and Newry sites with the transformation of their Toyota, Renault, Kia and Dacia dealerships in line with each manufacturer’s retail and customer service concepts.

Renovations will focus on modern, flexible, and sustainable-focused designs that will include updated state-of-the-art showrooms with the latest technologically advanced features, new car handover bays, enhanced customer service facilities and electric vehicle (EV) charge points.

Paul Ward, director of Shelbourne Motors, said: “This is a significant investment in the future growth of our business as we celebrate our 50th anniversary.

“Our customers and staff will start to see changes across our multi-franchise dealerships in Portadown and Newry as we future proof our business and further strengthen our position as one of Northern Ireland’s largest family-owned vehicle retailers.

“This £3m capital investment programme will allow us to continue to focus on delivering a quality customer experience across our excellent franchise network and creating jobs across all areas of the business that supports the local economy.”

Shelbourne Motors was founded by the Ward Family in 1973 when owner Fred Ward converted his former forecourt business into a used car sales unit.

Led by the second generation of the Ward family, the Northern Ireland business sells over 5,000 new and used cars annually and currently employs a growing team of over 150 staff across multi award-winning dealerships in Portadown and Newry.

The business operates the longest established Toyota franchise in Northern Ireland, alongside franchises for Renault, Nissan, Kia, Dacia, and MAXUS, as well as its own Used Car brand, Autoselect, and vehicle rental division, Shelbourne Vehicle Rental.

Paul added: “This is an incredibly proud moment for everyone associated with Shelbourne Motors. We have come a long way since our Father, Fred Ward, launched our first car dealership in 1973 and over the last 50 years we have prided ourselves on being a family run business built upon a commitment to offering exceptional choice and excellent customer service to our strong and loyal customer base.

“With an excellent reputation spanning five decades, we are firmly established as one of Northern Ireland’s largest family-owned vehicle retailers with an impressive portfolio of global vehicle manufacturers, and we are always looking to the future as we strive to continually evolve and invest in our customer service offering.”