Tyneside car group Wingrove Motor Company bought by national giant Arnold Clark

Wingrove Motor Company, a family-run motor retailer based in Wallsend, North Tyneside, has been acquired by automotive giant Arnold Clark.

The company, which was the largest family-owned and operated motor company in the North East, had been running various motor franchises across the region for nearly a century.

The business, founded in 1925 by Newcastle cattle auctioneer John Myers Dalkin Snr, operated four centres in the North East, including showrooms in Silverlink, North Tyneside, and Fenham, Newcastle, a body shop in Cramlington and a prep centre near Shiremoor, North Tyneside. Now, just eight months shy of its centenary, the business has been bought out by Arnold Clark, Europe's largest privately-owned family automotive business.

The acquisition has led to the closure of Wingrove's Fenham site, but all 97 staff members, including those from the closed Newcastle site, have been transferred to the new owners. Arnold Clark has reassured customers and employees that it will be business as usual, with all services continuing under a ne