Pentagon Group has further strengthened its ties with Vauxhall through the acquisition from Hartwell of two dealerships in Sheffield for an undisclosed price.

Andy Flinn, Pentagon finance director, says the sites add £30m to group turnover, taking it close to £300m. “Vauxhall has a small stake in our group which means the manufacturer looks after us when certain dealerships become available,” he adds.

Pentagon will spend £250,000 each on complete corporate refits at the two sites, which are in Savile Street and Eccleshall Road (a satellite branch).

Flinn says the outlets will sell about 900 new cars and vans a year, plus 1,800 used vehicles, taking group new and used annual sales to around 20,000.

Chevrolet will be added soon in Eccleshall Road, and Pentagon plans to relaunch its light and heavy van sales operation to include both Vauxhall and Peugeot.

Trevor Reeve, Pentagon Group managing director, says: “This acquisition represents a huge investment for us and we intend to retain the 130 people working at the two sites. We bought the dealerships because Sheffield is in our strategic market area of the M1/M62 triangle encompassing East Midlands, Lancashire and Yorkshire.”

Pentagon – listed 31 in the June AM100 as Reeve (Derby) – has three Vauxhall heavy van franchises, and Reeve says he wants to expand this side of the business.

In a further investment, Pentagon is spending £4m on a new Vauxhall and Saab site opening in Oldham in March. In August, the group paid £1.5m for Blackshaws of Burton-on-Trent, its first Peugeot outlet.