Torquay franchised retailer David Meek is consolidating his business to cope with the recession.

His Chevrolet site in Newton Road, Torquay, has closed and relocated at his main dealership at Barton Hill Road, which also sells Hyundai and Mitsubishi.

The Newton Road property will be sold. An aftersales business in Walnut Road will also be relocated to Barton Hill Road in the New Year.

The changes resulted in three redundancies among sales staff.

No quick fixes

Meek, who founded his dealership around 30 years ago, told his local newspaper the consolidation will help the business compete during the slowdown.

Meek added: "We have been through this two or three times before, but I think this could be the worst downturn yet because of the severity of the debt situation and the way it has happened so quickly in this country.

"We think this is going to be long term, there are no quick fixes."