Bodybuilder Bevan Group has acquired accident repair and refurbishment specialist A&R Vehicle Services – which it has held shares in since 2013 - for an undisclosed sum.
Ron Rushworth, a co-founder of A&R Vehicle Services in 1989, and fellow director Colin Bannister will retain day-to-day responsibility for the running of the business after the purchase.
Anthony Bevan, MD at Bevan Group, said that its customers had been benefitting from A&R’s accident repair and refurbishment services since it purchased its initial stake in the business four years ago – and, as a result, it would be retaining the A&R Vehicle Services trading name.
“The fact that we have finally assumed complete control of the business means we can now bring our sales and marketing expertise fully into play, to make the most of these opportunities,” he said.
Bevan moved to a new HQ last year in Wednesbury, near junction 9 on the M6 – close to A&R’s six-acre own site. Given the space available, Bevan’s Specialist Products team from their factory in Stone, Staffordshire, to the A&R site in Wednesbury.
Bevan Specialist Products was formed in 2015, after the acquisition of Stag Bodies by Bevan Group, and manufactures tipping and beavertail bodies, as well as traffic management vehicles. The move means that, for the first time, vehicles will be built as well as repaired and refurbished at Darlaston Road, Wednesbury.
“The Bevan Specialist Products venture has been a success since day one, as a result of which the team had outgrown their previous base,” said Bevan. “It makes sense, therefore, to use the extra space available at A&R’s site by consolidating another of our operations in our Black Country heartland.”
