Scania GB acquires franchise partner TruckEast

Scania Great Britain is continuing on the acquisition trail with a deal to buy its franchise partner TruckEast for an undisclosed sum.

The deal will see TruckEast’s 17 workshops located in the East – including Peterborough,  Milton Keynes, Northampton, Bury St Edmunds and Norwich, and its teams join forces with Scania GB’s. 

It will also see owner of TruckEast, John Biggin, hand over the reins to the business he led and grew for the last 18 years after coming to the decision to sell.

This latest deal comes after Scania GB acquired Haydock Commercial Vehicles and its North West network of branches in similar circumstances in May.

Chris Newitt, managing director for Scania UK, said: “This is a significant occasion, as we show our commitment to our valued customers, by sustaining Scania’s UK dealer and service network for the future.  

“I’m very pleased to be welcoming our TruckEast colleagues, and they will be great additions to our Scania GB family.

“We hope to learn, grow and develop our businesses together, not only for our own benefit, but also for every Scania owner in the UK.”

"A bittersweet moment"

John Biggin, owner of TruckEast, said: “For me, it’s a bittersweet moment. Firstly, I will be saying goodbye to a business I cherish and to the incredible colleagues who have made TruckEast what it is today.

"After 18 years, stepping away is not easy, but I do so with  immense pride in what we have achieved together. 

“I’m happy that TruckEast’s future is secure, and I believe in its continued success in the safe hands of Chris and the Scania GB team.

"Together, I know that both businesses will thrive and our customers will benefit from greater capabilities and support for the future.”

Scania said it will be "business as usual" for the TruckEast brancehes and workforce operationally, with the only changes seeing Newitt succeeding Biggin as chairman, and Scania GB’s chief financial officer Andreas Ödebrink, and business operations director Emma Wilkins joining the  board.

Scania is now working on integrating the TruckEast and Haydock businesses over the coming months "to establish best ways of working", with the newly acquired dealers becoming "welcome additions to the Swedish OEM’s wholly owned UK network".