UA LATEST: BRANCHES TO REMAIN OPEN AND TO CLOSE ANNOUNCED

KPMG has been confirmed as the administrator of Unipart Automotive. As reported, the majority of branches will close with immediate effect, with the loss of around 1,300 jobs.

However, 33 sites have been bought by Andrew Page and The Parts Alliance in a deal announced earlier this morning. Branches that remain open and sites that are to close are listed below with the corresponding number of redundancies.

Mark Orton, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: “Despite intensive efforts over recent weeks, a sale of the whole Unipart Automotive business could not be reached, and a buyer could only be found for 33 of the sites on a going concern basis. Unfortunately, the business had been experiencing financial stress for a number of years, so the level of cash and further operational restructuring required to rescue a more substantial part of the business posed too much risk for most interested parties.

“Our team of employment specialists will be supporting all staff on completing redundancy forms and putting them in touch with job seeker services. We will now be reviewing what options are available for the remainder of the business, such as selling leasehold interests.”

The company also directly supports over 700 independent, owner-operated garages through its Unipart Car Care Centre programme, in addition to having 19 franchisees. These companies fall outside of the administration and will continue to operate as normal.

Branches that remain open as part of the Andrew Page/Parts Alliance deal are as follows:

North East and Yorkshire:

Barnsley (Branch)

Northallerton (Branch)

Sheffield (Distribution Hub and Branch)

Stockton-on-Tees (Distribution Hub and Branch)

North West and Cumbria

Carlisle (Branch)

Lytham St Annes (Branch)

Southport (Branch)*

Warrington (Distribution Hub and Branch)

London and Home Counties

Luton (Branch)

East Anglia

Colchester (Branch)

Felixstowe (Branch)

Great Yarmouth (Branch)

Ipswich (Branch)

Wisbech (Branch)

Kent and Sussex

Chatham (Branch)*

Deal (Branch)*

Dover (Branch)*

Hastings (Branch)*

Greater Manchester and North Wales

Macclesfield (Branch)*

Stockport (Distribution Hub and Branch)

East Midlands and Lincolnshire

Chesterfield (Branch)

Louth (Branch)

Scunthorpe (Branch)

Wales and West

Carmarthen (Branch)*

South West

Barnstaple (Branch)*

Exeter (Distribution Hub and Branch)*

Penryn (Branch)*

Taunton (Branch)*

Tiverton (Branch)*

West Midlands

Shrewsbury (Branch)

Stafford (Branch)

Walsall (Branch)

South Coast and Surrey

Isle of Wight (Branch)

The branches and hubs which have closed with immediate effect, with the corresponding number of staff redundancies, are: