Pentagon Company History

Reeve (Derby) Ltd. (trading as Pentagon) was established in March 1991, in the form of a Management Investment Option by Trevor Reeve in conjunction with Vauxhall Motors Holding.  The company operated the Vauxhall franchise departmentally as Retail, Fleet, Used, Service, Bodyshop, Rental and Parts from the site at Pentagon Island in Derby.

In 1992 the company was awarded Gold and Silver medals in the automotive inaugural presentation in the categories of 'Best New Start-Up Dealer' and 'Best New Volume Dealer'.

The company acquired the leasehold of a 2.7 acre site at Stores Road, close to the dealership to function as a vehicle compound and PDI/valet facility.

In 1995 the company acquired the freehold on the Stores Road site.  A new department was set up to monitor our Customer Satisfaction when dealing with all aspects of the company. Pentagon Remarketing Services was also formed to wholesale used cars.

In 1996 the company achieved the buyout from Vauxhall Motors Holding, two years ahead of forecast. The open culture with reference to quality and profitability proved to be the key in meeting our objectives. The company finishes the year in the Motor Trade Top 200 Report and number one client sales per site outlet and number one turnover per site outlet.

In 1997 Vauxhall awarded Pentagon the rights to the Derby Market Area, which immediately saw Ashbourne identified as an open point.  In September a site was acquired and work began on a ¼ million pound refurbishment.

1998 saw the completion of our Vauxhall satellite sites in Ashbourne and Burton (following the acquisition of W T Blackshaws), together with the acquisition of two new sites in Oldham and the creation of a new Group Headquarters in Derby.

Two further acquisitions were completed with the purchase of two Toyota dealerships in Rotherham and Barnsley. The two Toyota sites in South Yorkshire were purchased through a joint partnership between Trevor Reeve and Steve Burrows via a new company (Reeve/Burrows Ltd) separate to Reeve (Derby) Ltd but sharing much of its head office structure and the Pentagon name. The Customer Care Centre was established in 1999 to manage the companies Sales and Aftersales Telemarketing).

The start of the new millennium saw the development of a new specialist department - Pentagon Systems Consultants - who maintain and upgrade both Pentagon and other dealers groups IT Systems.

2001 was a year of consolidation in retail areas but with strong growth in our wholesale business. There was a huge transformation of the Pentagon's Remarketing business with a new distribution centre at West Hallam (approximately 7 miles from Derby centre) and the development of major contracts with specialised fleet customers offering unique access to continually upgraded fleets.

In 2002, the company continued to grow at a rapid pace. The Remarketing Department increased sales substantially and the retails side of the company experienced a massive 33% increase in used car sales across all market areas. The West Hallam site expanded further with the addition of a number of new facilities including two new spray booths.

The addition of a new franchise - GM Daewoo at the Derby site in January - increased the overall number of brands to three. Reeve / Burrows (Ltd) also acquired the Toyota franchise in Doncaster from F. Cross and Sons. The company also established the Pentagon Internet Team to manage the all retail websites and online sales processes.

In 2004, the company continued to develop its market area in the North West with the takeover of Motorama in Rochdale. The Rochdale site representes the Chevrolet and Vauxhall franchises.

In 2005, Pentagon ushered in a new era with the transition of the Daewoo brand to Chevrolet at the sites in Rochdale and Derby. Work on the upgrading of the Vauxhall sites to meet with Vauxhall's new corporate identity has begun. In March, Pentagon brought the number of manufacturers they represented to four with the integration of the Saab franchise into Park Road site in Oldham.

In May, this dropped back to three with the sale of Trevor Reeve's share in the Toyota business to his business partner Steve Burrows. In August though the company completed the acquisition of W T Blackshaws Peugeot (adjacent to the Vauxhall site in Burton) which brought the number of franchises represented by Pentagon back up to four.

In November, Pentagon continued to grow its portfolio with the acquisition of Hartwell Vauxhall in Sheffield. This comprised two large and established sites at Savile Street (core) and Ecclesall Road (Satellite). Work began immediately on the corporate identity and the company added Chevrolet to the Savile Street site in January 2006. In December, the company also purchased the Vauxhall site in Mansfield from Hartwell.

In July 2006, Pentagon opened a brand new Vauxhall and Saab showroom at Chadderton Way in Oldham near Manchester, relocating the Park Road site.

In the same month, the company also completed the acquisition of New Crown Sharpes Vauxhall in Nottingham, taking the total number of dealership operated by Pentagon to 15.