A car dealership has closed its Halesworth operation, with the loss of 21 jobs in the town.

East Anglian Daily Times: Marshall Motor Group's site at Futura Park, Ipswich, which has been retained Picture: GOOGLEMAPSMarshall Motor Group's site at Futura Park, Ipswich, which has been retained Picture: GOOGLEMAPS (Image: Googlemaps)

Marshall Motor Group closed its Jaguar Land Rover authorised repairer operations and its used car centre on the same site in Norwich Road on November 15 following a strategic review.

It had been there for five years, having acquired the Land Rover dealership from Hammonds Group in Halesworth for an undisclosed sum back in July 2014.

MORE - Bungay brewery counts cost of poor mobile signal and frustratingly slow broadbandThree members of staff at the site have been deployed to its new Jaguar Land Rover "state-of-the-art" facility at Futura Park in Ipswich. "The company was unfortunately not able to relocate all employees," a spokesman said.

Marshall Motor Group said it would be handing the leased Halesworth site back to the landlord "in due course".

Franchise director Shaun Allen said: "Further to a strategic review of Marshall Motor Group's Jaguar Land Rover representation in Halesworth, Marshall Jaguar Land Rover Halesworth's (Norwich Road) authorised repairer operations will close on Friday 15 November 2019. Marshall Used Car Centre Halesworth, on the same site, will also close too.

"The decision to close our Halesworth site was made with full support and approval of Jaguar Land Rover UK.

"Marshall Jaguar Land Rover retailers in Bedford, Bury St. Edmunds, Cambridge, Ipswich, Lincoln, Melton Mowbray, Newbury, Oxford and Peterborough are unaffected."

When it bought the Hammonds site in Halesworth back in 2014, the entire 42-strong workforce was transferred to Marshall. Prior to that, Hammonds Group had represented Land Rover in Halesworth for 23 years.

Marshall chief executive Daksh Gupta said at the time that the acquisition was part of a strategic move to represent the brand in Suffolk, increasing the firm's Land Rover portfolio to six sites.

"Halesworth Land Rover is a great business which will turnover £30m this year and has a first class team whom we look forward to welcoming to Marshall," he said back in 2014.

"This acquisition continues our established strategy of building scalable businesses with core brand partners based on a strong relationship and a depth of representation."

Marshall Motor Group is part of Marshall Motor Holdings, which is based at Cambridge airport. To the end of last year (December 2018), Marshall Motor Group turnover grew to £847m compared to £820m in 2017. Gross profit declined slightly from £91m to £90m. The owner was Sir Michael John Marshall, who died in July 2019 while on holiday in Spain at the age of 87.