Waterbrook Park, the business park near Junction 10 of the M20 in Ashford, is to be home to a £9m state-of-the-art Jaguar Land Rover retailer after a deal was struck with Canterbury-based Barretts Motor Group.
The agreement with GSE Group, the Ashford-based company developing Waterbrook Park, involves the purchase of a five acre site and development of a 3,600m2 new car sales and service centre.
The new Jaguar Land Rover dealership is due to be operational in late 2018/early 2019, with the staff at the existing Orbital Park dealership relocating and the prospect of 20 new jobs.
Darrell Healey, Managing Director of GSE Group, said: “Jaguar Land Rover is synonymous with quality, design and British engineering. We’re delighted that Waterbrook Park will soon play its part in supporting the ongoing success of the UK’s largest automotive manufacturer.”
Paul Barrett, Managing Director of Barretts Motor Group, said: “We have seen a significant rise in sales of both Jaguar and Land Rover as new and exciting models have come to the market, most recently the Jaguar F-PACE, and the all new Land Rover Discovery and the forthcoming all-electric I-PACE.
“From under this one new roof in Ashford we will be able to showcase the full range of Jaguar Land Rover vehicles, and also have the latest high-spec servicing facilities. We have outgrown our current local dealership, but still wanted easy access to the M20 and rest of Ashford.
Barretts Motor Group, which can trace it automotive roots in Kent back more than 115 years, joins Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (formerly VOSA), the vehicle inspection organisation, sponsored by the Department of Transport, at Waterbrook Park.
Waterbrook Park is also home to the award-winning Ashford International Truckstop, which owners GSE Group has plans to extend in size to meet growing demand and help remove unwelcome trucks from parking overnight in and around Ashford.
