Rob Hilton, ex-boss of Colliers’ national automotive and roadside group, has started up his own property investment company.

The new company is called Quadriga Real Estate and has already secured €52 million (£40.6 million) in assets in the form of 24 dealerships across mainland Europe.

Hilton’s goal is to hit a target of €250 million (£195.3 million) worth of assets in a year and €500 million (£391 million) within five years.

The business will operate with two arms, one dealing with sale and leaseback and the other developing new properties for dealers.

Hilton said the business had been in development for five years, with the intention of it being a joint operation with Colliers. However, equity investors were against the idea.

He said: “It became clear that investors needed to have a director whose attention was entirely focused on the project. It was a tough decision to leave Colliers.”

Scott Gilhooly also left Colliers to join Hilton’s Quadriga project.

Hilton said: “Scott will be managing the transactions and I’ll be working on relationships with the dealers and manufacturers.”

According to Hilton there are no other property investment companies that are purely focused on the automotive retail market.

Quadriga’s main focus is on Germany, France, Spain and Italy, but it is looking to expand into Russia and the Ukraine.