but our dealership in maidstone kent will cease trading by 31st October :thumbdwn:

i dont really care if they want it public knowledge or not at the moment, as ive just been told we are all out on our ear as theres no one taking over the franchanise.

i mean ffs they could have waited till after christmas!!

anyone in the maidstone area got a job???

Harsh :thumbdwn:

Lets hope you can find another job asap!

Sorry to be reading this :(

Sorry to hear that mate. A lot of people are having problems at the moment. Sparshats at Chichester went a few weeks ago and now you guys, this doesn't bode well!

Sparshats at Chichester went a few weeks ago and now you guys, this doesn't bode well!

Did they, I got a quote for parts of them only 2 or 3 weeks back :eek:

Still listed on the sparshatts site too.

Grrr how annoying as I won't touch their fareham branch for after sales with a barge pole.

thanks all, theres jcb skoda near by, im hoping they take up the franchise, but if they did they need to get a building and that could take a while.

so i may end up not working fo skoda for much longer, but at least with the octy in the family i'll still be on here!

but our dealership in maidstone kent will cease trading by 31st October :thumbdwn:

i dont really care if they want it public knowledge or not at the moment, as ive just been told we are all out on our ear as theres no one taking over the franchanise.

i mean ffs they could have waited till after christmas!!

anyone in the maidstone area got a job???

So sorry to hear :(.

Was there a reason given why its closing?

Sorry to hear of another one closing down......Good luck on the new job search

Ooooh dear

I am sorry

I know Skoda had a wild dream of all dealerships having enough room for was it 6 or 7 cars in display and all posh bits

Glass palaces my ex boss used to say

That is why they lost the dealership as they refused to go up in the world

We as a company wanted to be small but family feeling

We knew just about all the customers by their first name , it was good

But not what Skoda UK wanted

Oh well

I hope you find somewhere else

I must admit , I loved the dealerships , miss it too :(

Sarah

Sorry to hear the news.Is it just the one dealership thats gone t1ts-up or all of Dutton Forshaw group?

Have Caffyns not got any positions at their dealerships you could apply for?

Was there a reason given why its closing?

thats something i wont say (just in case! ) but bascially the footfall out here is alwasy been a problem, and although we convert a much higher percentage of customers to buy, there simply wasnt the numbers. The business has been runnning at a loss for some time due to poor footfall. We've tried everything, internet, local ads, ebay ads, new and better customer sites, even getting out and into the public eye with cars and doing the PR stuff. But i think a combination of poor footfall, the crunch and being owned by a bank for years just meant our new owners want to expand the merc business out here and dump chevy, skoda and citroen.

Sorry to hear the news.Is it just the one dealership thats gone t1ts-up or all of Dutton Forshaw group?

Have Caffyns not got any positions at their dealerships you could apply for?

not sure yet, my friend here knows the local dealers quite well being here for 3 years so we are getting on the phones to ask about.

as we only found out just 30 mins ago, it hasnt sunk in yet.

i think its just our site they are messing about with at the moment. but the merc side is staying and so is bodyshop

The Skoda dealers by my office in Redditch has gone recently as well.

It was previously split with Citroen and is now french only.

Surprising how many Skoda dealerships seem to be going under, yet overall UK new Skoda sales are up on last year, and Skoda was one of only 8 car makes out of over 40+ that posted a rise in sales here last month over the same month in 2007.

The Caffyns dealer in Ashford is very good, worth seeing if they have any jobs going either their or in their group somewhere?

Hope you find work so you don't have a gap in income mate.

The Caffyns dealer in Ashford is very good, worth seeing if they have any jobs going either their or in their group somewhere?

Hope you find work so you don't have a gap in income mate.

nearly forgot they were there, ive got a few friends in ashford too. hmm!

my OH is going to start work in essex so i may as well make that a area i look and think about a relocation.

its the end of a era here though. this place has been here for donkeys years, i remember it even when i was a kid (although not a skoda dealer) theres plenty of staff here who have been here for a decade too. the DP has been here for 28 years i think!

As I said it is a real shame, the first Skoda garage I worked for was in Southend called Prince Avenue Skoda and that was a main dealer for 28 years. Shame when a long term dealer goes under.

Do you want to stick with Skoda or would you go to any decent brand?

I've got a mate who works in automotive recruitment for Surrey if that's any help?

As I said it is a real shame, the first Skoda garage I worked for was in Southend called Prince Avenue Skoda and that was a main dealer for 28 years. Shame when a long term dealer goes under.

Do you want to stick with Skoda or would you go to any decent brand?

I've got a mate who works in automotive recruitment for Surrey if that's any help?

i'd like to stick with the VAG group as i know the tech in the cars and i feel like i could walk in and start getting on with the job quick. but then im not that fussy, i did used to sell citroens before skoda!!

The skoda dealers in Grimsby closed about 3 weeks ago and became a KIA dealership ffs.. my nearest dealer is now in the middle of hull.

Bad news that Dean, I hope you get something sorted soon.

Sparshatts didn't close Chichester for financial reasons but because there were issues with the lease that couldn't be resolved to the satisfaction of all involved.

Surprising how many Skoda dealerships seem to be going under, yet overall UK new Skoda sales are up on last year, and Skoda was one of only 8 car makes out of over 40+ that posted a rise in sales here last month over the same month in 2007.

Sales up because of increased supply to fleets and hire companies at little or no margins perhaps?

F0000kin' hell not another one! I feel for you fella!

Sorry to hear this woodenspatulas. :(

Hope everything works out for you in the end.

The skoda dealers in Grimsby closed about 3 weeks ago and became a KIA dealership ffs.. my nearest dealer is now in the middle of hull.

That dealer has recently been taken over... It started as a Skoda dealer then started selling citroens and skodas... then went to mainly citroens, now it's purely a Skoda dealer.

Just hope the level of service has gone up since my last visit as that was the reason I'm currently driving a Ford.

Sorry to hear its all gone down hill, we may only see you occasionally at Maidstone metes then