Car dealer Pendragon to close 15 car showrooms and cut 1,800 jobs

The firm, which is based in Annesley, Nottinghamshire, said that a review of the business had begun before coronavirus but the pandemic had made the trading situation more difficult.

About 400 of the jobs will be from branches, with the rest coming from a wider restructuring of the business, aimed at saving £35m a year.

The company has not released the names of the branches that will close.

The firm has a number of sites in Doncaster and Sheffield and across Northern England.

In a statement, the company said some of the sites being closed had made a combined loss of £2m last year.

Bill Berman, the firm's chief executive officer, said: "The Covid-19 pandemic is a uniquely challenging situation and we want to protect as many jobs as we can sustainably and the proposed redundancies are, of course, extremely regrettable.

"The actions that we are undertaking are for the long-term health and success of the group and ensure that we emerge from the pandemic as a more competitive and stronger business with the ability to thrive in the future."

Evans Halshaw currently has 118 locations across the UK and Stratsone has 59.

Last month, rival dealership Lookers also admitted it had been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and would be looking to cut 1,500 jobs.