Go, go, go for McLaren New Forest as new branch leaves the starting grid

MCLAREN New Forest, the sports and supercar brand’s ninth retailer in Britain, is now open for business at Bramshaw near Cadnam.

The British creator of luxury sportscars and supercars, McLaren Automotive, has appointed Harwoods Group as McLaren retailer for the south of England and the first stage of the new development has seen the completion of the McLaren-dedicated service and after sales facilities.

Equipped with the latest manufacturer-specified technology, it is in the new centre alongside Harwood’s Bentley Hampshire operations, close to Junction 1 of the M27.

While the finishing touches are still being put to the new showroom, the team at McLaren New Forest has launched several offers for customers wanting to be among the first to having their cars serviced there.

The technicians are Jonathan Fosket, Kevin Durrant and Glenn Field while Mike Pemberton will be joining soon as an aftersales adviser.

The next stage will see the opening of the new showroom later this month.

Heading up the new operation is Craig Chapman whose 20-year pedigree in the motor trade brings a deep knowledge on all aspects of automotive retailing.

He has worked with Harwoods for a number of years and is now responsible for both Bentley Hampshire and Bentley Sussex as well as McLaren New Forest as head of business.

Craig was previously based at Harwoods’ head office and won the prestigious Bentley Retailer of the Year in 2015 followed with Bentley Head of Business awards in 2016 and 2017.

He said: “Harwoods Group continues to substantially invest in all its sites to keep in line with the growing demands of the market, maintaining our status as the leading automotive retailer in the south of England.

“The McLaren showroom will sit in one side of the existing building, next door to Bentley. This currently showcases our Harwoods Advantage models.

“There will be five of the most recent models in the showroom including 600LT, 570S and 720S, as well as the new GT, and the sales team is already welcoming enquiries for new or pre-owned car sales.”

Asked if customers will be invited to take road tests from the dealership or would the cars be taken to the customer, he replied: “Both! We always strive to offer the best customer service, so if a customer is unable to get to us, we’ll do our utmost to take the car to them.

“However we do find that the New Forest is a popular destination for customers to want to visit and often make a weekend of it!

“We have already had our first track day with McLaren at Goodwood which was a huge success and a great addition to our already famous Harwoods track day calendar. We’ll continue to hold these to showcase the capabilities of the McLaren range which are in their element on track.”

Mr Chapman said the whole team spent two weeks in training with McLaren to ensure the highest standards of service and product knowledge as expected for such a prestige brand.

He added: “With the aftersales facility at Bramshaw now fully operational, we have been fortunate enough that McLaren clients have already scheduled their vehicle with us and this will continue to be a big focus part of the business.

“There may be scope to add McLaren to our accident repair centres in the future.”

For more information on launch offers as well as the award-winning range of McLaren sportscars and supercars, including the new 720S Spider and 600LT Spider, visit www.harwoods.uk.com.