Arnold Clark is a car dealer based in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. , the company has 193 dealerships across the United Kingdom.

History

The company was founded by

Arnold Clark Sir John Arnold Clark (27 November 1927 – 10 April 2017) was a Scottish billionaire businessman. Clark opened a showroom in Glasgow in 1954 and found some success selling cars. He expanded his business and Arnold Clark Automobiles beca ...

, who opened his first showroom in 1954 in Park Road in

. In 1963, Arnold Clark Finance was launched. In the 1960s the company began rental vehicles and in 1968 took over Grant, Melrose and Tennant giving the company an accident repair centre. Clark took over other motor businesses such as the Glasgow dealership McHarg, Rennie and Lindsay. Clark's biggest branch was gained through the takeover of Ross of Lochrin in Edinburgh. By 1989, there were twenty two Arnold Clark branches across Central Scotland and one in England. The rental part of the business now had 1400 rental cars and 350 light commercial vehicles. The company also had vehicle contract hire operations in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. In December 1989, he gained a further 13 dealerships in the North East of Scotland, with the purchase of ''Ron Hutcheson Motors Ltd''. This took the number of people employed by the company to 1300. In 1994, the company opened its first site in England, in

. In 1996, Clark agreed deal for site and assets of Glasgow-based H Prosser and Sons Ltd, unaware that the company was imminently to be put into receivership. By May 2002, Arnold Clark had 97 dealerships and with annual sales expected to reach £1billion, with a claim to be Scotland's largest private company although Grampian Country Foods recorded larger sales for the four years following this. In December 2003, Arnold Clark acquired the training company GTG. By the end of that year, the company employed 6,000 people and operated more than 120 showrooms across the United Kingdom. In April 2005, the company paid a first dividend to the family trust family that it is co owned by. In May 2006, the company acquired the BMW and

MINI The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

specialist Harry Fairbairn, which had dealerships in

Giffnock Giffnock (; sco, Giffnock; gd, Giofnag, ) is a town and the administrative centre of East Renfrewshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies east of Barrhead, east-southeast of Paisley and northwest of East Kilbride, at the south ...

and

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. In August 2006, the company opened a car showroom in the regenerated

Glasgow Harbour Glasgow Harbour is an urban regeneration scheme at Partick in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Construction After many years of dereliction caused by the decline of shipbuilding and the migration of Glasgow's docks to the Firth o ...

, Europe's largest. By November 2007, it was approaching a £2billion turnover. In June 2007, it overtook Grampian Country Foods to again become Scotland's biggest private company. With the announcement of the

Vehicle scrappage scheme The vehicle scrappage scheme (also vehicle discount scheme and car scrappage scheme) is a government incentive scheme that was introduced in the 2009 United Kingdom Budget to encourage British motorists to purchase a new, more environmentally-fr ...

in August 2009, Arnold Clark expected to create 700 jobs. By September 2012, the company was expanding through the acquisition of other dealerships. Fleet sales still accounted for a relatively small proportion of the company's business. The takeover of the Weir group in September 2012 also saw the company expand into the market of

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

. Acquisitions also included a site near

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, and a dealership and bodyshop in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. 2014 was their sixtieth year of trading and this was marked with the company’s turnover reaching almost £3billion, with a rise in used car sales partly responsible. They were involved with the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

as a partner organisation, helping look after the fleet of official vehicles. In February 2015, the company undertook a rebranding of their buildings. In 2015, the company took over Ness Motors in Inverness, Elgin and Perth. By September 2016, the company had 200 dealerships and 24 franchises, with a staff of 10,000.

never retired from the company, remaining as chairman until his death on 10 April 2017, at the age of 89. On 31 January 2019, Arnold Clark completed their takeover of ''The Phoenix Car Company''. Phoenix was a family-run car retail group established in 1993, with dealerships of

Kia Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

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, SsangYong and

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Locations

In December 2007, the company's Botanic Gardens Garage was designated a

category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being *Categories (Aristotle), ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) ...

. It had been built before 1912. The company had plans to demolish the building but later withdrew their plans, and in April 2014, one planning application was granted to convert it into a gym. The company has a purpose-built head office in Hillington which houses a dealership of

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

, this was completed in 2016.

Awards

In October 2009, the company won the "Glasgow Business Award" for ''Apprentice Employer of the Year''. In May 2016, the company's marketing department was named 'In-House Marketing Team of the Year' at ''The Drum Awards 2016''. In 2022, the company won Dealer Group of the Year as well as Retailer of the Year at the Automotive Management 2022 Awards.

References

External links

* * {{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Scottish brands Companies based in Glasgow Automotive companies of Scotland 1954 establishments in Scotland