Vertu Motors

Vertu Motors is strengthening its links to southwestern cricket with support for Somerset Cricket Museum’s digitalisation project.

A £500 donation will support the museum’s ongoing digitalisation project, which is making its extensive collection of cricket memorabilia more accessible through audio recordings for visually impaired visitors, preserving historic match footage, and creating a virtual tour of the site.

Since acquiring 32 dealerships in the South West from the Helston Garages Group in December 2022, Vertu Motors has formed a strong relationship with cricketers in the region, becoming an Official Partner of Somerset County Cricket Club men’s team and making history as the first shirt sponsor of its ladies’ team.

Alan Woodland, General Manager at Vertu Taunton and Yeovil Volvo, said: “Vertu Motors is always keen to become part of the community where we have a presence. Cricket is such a huge part of life in the South West and we have many cricket fans amongst our colleagues, making it a natural choice for us to get involved with - and we’re doing so in a number of ways.

“The museum is a brilliant asset for the region and the Club’s fans. It charts an amazing 150 years in the crease. Our support is helping it to bring some of that amazing history to life, so it is more accessible and can be enjoyed by more people.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how the museum’s digitalisation work progresses. Hopefully we’ll be visiting soon to try out the audio tours and learn even more about this historic club.”

Mike Unwin, Museum Volunteer at Somerset Cricket Museum, said: “We’re delighted to have the support of Vertu Motors as we look to bringing the museum to many more people with digitally accessible archives and audio tours.

“We are a charitable organisation, so we can only continue to make our collection available to cricket enthusiasts thanks to the donations of our members, visitors and sponsors – private individuals and businesses like Vertu Motors.

“Since the Pandemic, it became clear that we needed to do more to diversify how our patrons can enjoy our collection and Somerset’s cricketing past. We have made some great progress and the support of Vertu Motors will go a long way towards helping us achieve our ambitions.”

ENDS 

CONTACT CAROLINE WALKER 01325 363 436 

Notes to Editors

Vertu Motors is the third largest automotive retailer in the UK with a network of 190 sales outlets across the UK. Its dealerships operate predominantly under the Bristol Street Motors, Vertu and Macklin Motors brand names.

Vertu Motors was established in November 2006 with the strategy to consolidate the UK motor retail sector. It is intended that the Group will continue to acquire motor retail operations to grow a scaled dealership group. The Group’s acquisition strategy is supplemented by a focused organic growth strategy to drive operational efficiencies through its national dealership network.

The Group currently operates 186 franchised sales outlets and 4 non-franchised sales operations from 140 locations across the UK.

Vertu’s Mission Statement is to “deliver an outstanding customer motoring experience through honesty and trust”.

Vertu Motors Group websites – https://investors.vertumotors.com/ /www.vertucareers.com

Vertu brand websites – www.vertumotors.com / www.bristolstreet.co.uk / www.vertuhonda.com / www.vertutoyota.com / www.macklinmotors.co.uk / www.vertumotorcyles.com