Kingsbridge

2007 was another successful year for Kingsbridge's Quay Auto Centre, which has been serving the motoring needs of the South Hams for a whopping 93 years.

Things have changed since the firm was first founded in March 1914 by an ironmonger, a dentist and a musical instrument maker, and it has stayed in one family for more than 70 years.

Ownership passed in the early 1920s to Alfred Burgoyne, who ran a transport company in the town, but Alfred’s brother-in-law James Trembath, an accountant from Totnes, took it over in 1932 and it has remained in the family ever since.

The company has also moved premises several times over the years and for the first four years it was based on the Quay in the building that now houses Wills Marine.

But the thriving firm soon outgrew its base and moved to a purpose-built garage at what was then the head of the estuary.

In 2001, the company closed its petrol forecourt and shop operation there in favour of a mixed development of shops and flats and is now wholly based in Higher Union Road.

Starting back in 1914 with the Ford Agency, as it was known then, the company has represented several vehicle manufacturers over the years, but its enduring strength has been its service and repair business which historically also included heavy commercial and marine maintenance.

In the late 1950s, the company re-entered the new car market and was awarded the Standard Triumph franchise for the area. As the manufacturers rationalised and grouped together so Quay Garage sought and gained the individual franchises of the new groupings with Rover, Austin, Morris, MG, Wolsely and Riley.

Inevitably this period of expansion required more space and so in June 1974 the business relocated its service and parts departments together with a vehicle storage facility to leased premises at Homelands, Union Road.

1986 saw the company purchase a former factory in Homelands. At the same time, as British volume car manufacturers had shrunk to just Rover, the Quay Auto Centre also gained the Suzuki franchise.

In 1996, the company gained the Ford franchise, only to lose its Rover franchise two years later.

Today the Quay Auto Centre is owned by Roger Trembath and holds both a Suzuki and Ford franchise. These two franchises have now been wholly located in the Higher Union Road site, which, in order to meet the increasingly high standards of both manufacturers, has recently undergone a major £150,000 refurbishment.

With the goal posts seemingly ever moving in the motor industry, the company continues to face changes and new developments. Nevertheless having celebrated its 93rd Anniversary last year, it is looking forward to celebrating its centenary in 2014.

For more information about the business, visit www.quayautocentre.co.uk.