A Richmond car dealership is celebrating its second anniversary after growing from a standing start into a business on course for annual turnover of more than £20m.
Browns of Richmond, based at Gallowfields Trading Estate, was founded by directors Fraser Brown and Tim Roelich and specialises in used electric vehicles.
The company says it has grown to become the UK’s largest independent used Tesla dealer.
Since opening, the dealership has sold more than 1,400 vehicles, while its workshop has serviced more than 2,000 cars and carried out 1,800 MOTs.
The business now employs 31 local people and typically has about 120 used vehicles in stock, the majority of them electric.
Its growth has also brought national recognition, with Browns named Rising Star at the Autotrader Retailer Awards before winning New Independent Dealership of the Year at the Motor Trader Industry Awards.
The company says customers now travel to Richmond from across the UK to buy vehicles.
Browns estimates it has spent more than £1m with local suppliers and funded more than 200 hotel stays for customers collecting cars, encouraging visitors to spend additional time in the town.
The dealership has also supported more than 25 community groups, clubs and events, while staff have raised almost £10,000 for local charities and worked with more than 300 children and young people.
Fraser said he and Tim had taken a significant financial risk to launch the company.
“When Tim and I started this venture, we put our homes on the line and risked everything to create the sort of dealership we would want to buy from ourselves,” he said.
“The growth has exceeded anything we could have imagined, but what makes us particularly proud is that people are travelling from all over the UK to Richmond and that we’ve been able to put something back into the local economy and community.”
Fraser said specialising in electric vehicles, and Tesla in particular, had been a deliberate decision as demand increased.
Tim added that the support of customers, staff, suppliers and the Richmond community had been crucial to the company’s growth.
“As the business grows, we want to make sure we continue giving something back,” he said.
