A USED car dealership in Poole has closed down owing more than £430k. 

Bournemouth and Poole Car Sales reached the end of the road earlier this month after eight years. 

Around 40 to 50 cars remain parked up at the garage in Ringwood Road, near Old Wareham Road. A company called G W Hall, formerly of Old Wareham Road, has since moved in.

Branding and signs on the forecourt have been taken down.

Bosses at the old firm have instructed liquidators Kelly Mitchell and Andrew Watling of Southampton-based Quantuma Advisory to wind up the company. 

 

Bournemouth Echo: Bournemouth and Poole Car Sales, Ringwood Road

A statement of affairs submitted to Companies House said 15 creditors are owed £430,700 between them. 

This includes £10,799 to Dorset Magistrates’ Courts’ enforcement office, £175k in total to HMRC and £808 to BCP Council. 

In addition, £40,787 is owed to the bank HSBC while an R Crawford, of Richmond Park Avenue in Charminster, is listed as being owed £88,130. 

It is estimated £306,350 is owed to unsecured, non-preferential creditors – meaning they aren’t guaranteed to get all their money back – including R Crawford. 

The liquidators said there is an estimated total deficiency of £294,399. 

For many years until 2017, the site had gone through a variety of name changes, including Colebrooks, Ringwood Road Car Sales and All New American Hand Wash. 

On Google, Bournemouth and Poole Car Sales enjoyed mostly positive reviews giving it an overall rating of 4.3 stars out of five. 

Bournemouth and Poole Car Sales has been approached for a comment. 

The latest Office for National Statistics figures show around 1,935 businesses in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole ceased trading in 2022 – up from 1,635 the year before.

Some 17,220 businesses were active last year, meaning the 'business death rate' – the percentage of businesses that closed – has risen to 11.2 per cent.

Transport and storage businesses particularly struggled, with the highest death rate at 23.8 per cent, almost double any other industry, which the Institute of Directors said was caused by "higher business costs and declining disposable income".

The 'death rate' data is marginally below the 'business birth rate' – the percentage of businesses that began trading – with around 1,935 created last year.