History
Peter Coleman our Managing Director, started off as a young
apprentice motor technician. In 1972 he decided to start selling
cars as well as repairing them. With the help of his father, John
Coleman and a £1,000 bank loan, Peter and John Coleman brought a
showroom in the Boulevard in Weston super Mare. The business worked
well and in 1973 they were already looking to expand. Selling the
original showroom he bought Howards Motors in Severn Road. Hence
the name Howard has always stayed with the Company. Peter worked
hard offering servicing and repairs as well as selling cars. Peter
put a great deal of pride in the cars he purchased to sell his
customers and also in the quality of the after sales service
offered. In November 1973 an additional showroom in Orchard Street
was purchased.
Peter then looked to develop the business from just selling used
cars and in 1974 negotiated to take on the Datsun (later Nissan)
franchise. This was Peters first franchised dealership offering new
and used car sales and full after sales backup. By now the Howards
Group had established a very good reputation in the Weston super
Mare area and the business was becoming very successful.
Not only did Peter and his father work hard they also had a good
eye for business and a vision for the future. An area which at the
time was very much "out of town" was going to be developed at
Winterstoke Road. Other people in the local Motor Industry at the
time could not understand their decision, some even thinking they
were making a big mistake. However, the decision was made to
purchase 2.5 acres of this land. As we now know this was a very
shrewd move as this now forms the heart of the commercial centre
especially for car dealerships in Weston Super Mare with good
access from the motorway network and surrounded by houses and
retail parks.
In 1984 the new Nissan dealership was built on this site. 6
months later Peter Bull joined Peter Coleman to help develop the
business and quickly gained a reputation for running an excellent
sales team many of whom have gone on to become Sales Managers
within the Company.
Mr Coleman senior decided to take a back seat from the business
and still visits on a regular basis.
Four years later Peter built another dealership next to Nissan
and in 1988 opened his first Peugeot dealership. Peter not only
owned two successful dealership but also realised the importance of
buying land in the right location in order to develop his business.
After much negotiation with the Railways Property Board, Peter
brought a further 3 acres of land beside Hildesheim Bridge. Again
looking to diversify the business and offer more choice to his
customers, two further franchises were taken on and housed in brand
new purpose built dealership on this land. Firstly Citroen joined
the portfolio in 1993 and then Rover in 1994.
All was well going very well, the Howards Group had an excellent
reputation and good working relationships with all their franchise
partners, customers and was known as an "go ahead" place to
work.
In 1998 an opportunity arose to buy Gliddons, a family owned
Peugeot dealership, Taunton. Peter had the chance to take on the
Peugeot franchise in Taunton area, this was an exciting prospect.
It would mean building on a brand new green-field site. Again,
through prudent buying power Peter purchased land at Priorswood
Road. The Peugeot dealership was built to a modern state of the art
specification and was opened in 1998. The dealership has been
awarded with the coveted title of Dealer of the Year in 2002 and
2003 by Peugeot, an unprecedented achievement.
There was enough land to develop further sites. In 2001 two
brand new purpose built dealerships were opened, one taking on a
second Citroen franchise covering the Taunton area and a new
franchise partner with the prestigious Honda brand being introduced
to the Group.
In 2005 Peter brought AF Garages Limited, a well established
Honda Dealership, and moved franchise to the Hildesheim Bridge site
in place of Rover. And in 2006 the prestigious Toyota brand was
added to the Howards Group when Peter purchased the Dealership from
Sytner Holdings in Lympsham on the outskirts of Weston super
Mare.
2008 saw the Nissan and Toyota Dealerships move to newly
re-furbished locations in Weston super Mare. Nissan is currently
based at Searle Crescent and Toyota at Herluin Way.
This has resulted in eight franchises at six sites.
Not bad for a young apprentice!