Foray Motor Group has expanded its representation of Ford in its west of England heartland.

At the close of 2010, the Salisbury-based group acquired its 10th Ford dealership as it took over the former Reed of Trowbridge, changing its name to Trowbridge Ford.

Foray managing director Chris Yoxon said he was introduced to Reed owner Tim Iredale by Ford and spent some time negotiating a “mutually acceptable” price for the business, in which Foray now intends to invest heavily with backing from RBS and the carmaker.

“There will be major refurbishment of the premises, which is good news for the 25 existing staff,” said Yoxon.

“I’m pleased we will be representing Ford in Wiltshire’s county town – we already hold the franchise in Wiltshire’s only city, Salisbury, where we started our business in 2000 with a management buyout of Edwards Ford and the neighbouring Andover Ford.”

At that time, Foray acquired Ford dealerships in Yeovil, Taunton and Bridgwater and has become the Ford franchise holder in Poole, Dorchester, and Chard before adding Shaftesbury at this time last year.

“We have an unrivalled presence in the western part of the M3/M4/M5 triangle, where we have concentrated on small to medium market towns as the core of our business,” said Yoxon.

“I believe in organic growth focused on Ford but we do have a strong presence in the corporate and vans markets in our region and the first decision at Trowbridge was to appoint a van salesman to develop our presence.”