ONE OF Dublin’s best-known car dealerships, Maxwell Motors, has entered receivership. Michael McAteer of accountancy firm Grant Thornton was appointed as receiver and manager on Friday afternoon.
The Blackrock-based dealership has been in operation since 1938. It employs 16 people plus two directors, Charles and Sinead Day.
The business is now for sale as a going concern.
Maxwell Motors ended its relationship with BMW in July 2008, having held the franchise for 19 years. Since then the company has been operating as an independent dealership, focusing on premium new and used cars.
It is believed that the ending of the BMW agreement coupled with mounting debt repayments linked to its premises on Temple Road in Blackrock, Co Dublin, contributed to financial difficulties.
The most recent accounts for Maxwell Motors Ltd show that sales dropped to €13.7 million in 2009, down from just under €46 million during the previous 14-month period.
Pre-tax losses at the dealership narrowed to €914,000 during 2009, compared to losses of €2.4 million in the 14-month period to the end of 2008.
Ulster Bank and Lombard Ireland hold charges over the premises at Temple Road, as well as over property owned by Maxwell Motors Ltd at the Dublin Crystal site on Brookfield Terrace in Blackrock, according to the 2009 accounts.
Staff numbers have been declining at Maxwell Motors over the past three years. In 2007 the company employed 65, though this was halved following the termination of the BMW franchise.
Charles Day has been managing director of Maxwell Motors since the early 1970s, having taken over from brothers George and Foss Maxwell.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/cb1219c1-cfa7-44eb-a8f7-aae300bbb987.png)