H.R. Owen is Britain's leading luxury motor dealer, and the world's largest retailer in Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti brands.
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Harold Rolfe Owen was born in Yorkshire, and served in the Royal Flying Corps in World War I. Captain Owen was badly injured in a crash, aged 18, in Northern France. Returning to England to convalesce, he joined the motor trade alongside Jack Barclay, establishing his own business H.R. Owen at 17 Berkeley Street, London, in 1932. The business was purposefully closed at the start of World War II, and sold by the family after Owen died while on tank manouveres in 1940, aged 41.[1]
Bought by fellow Yorkshire man Frank Swain, he reopened the business in 1946 on the old location in Berkeley Street. Swain began to build a complete motor vehicle business, buying up both fellow retailers as well as motor vehicle builders and suppliers. On the death of A.J. Webb in 1955, Swain bought coach builder Freestone and Webb. This was the same year as the introduction of the Bentley S1/Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, neither of which came as a chassis only option. With its main chassis supplier relationship now ended, it continued to refurbish and build bodies until 1958, when it became a pure showroom brand. In 1963, after Swain decided to divest itself of its coach building arm and focus just on motor retail, it sold the entire division under the main brand of coachbuilders Harold Radford to a group led by Harold Radford.[2]
In 1970, H.R. Owen was sold to Gerald Ronson's Heron International.[1]
Aged 21, Nicholas Lancaster set up his own motor retail group. Sold in 1992 to Jardine Matheson, in 1994 he set up Malaya Group plc, which bought H.R. Owen. In 1997, one the 65th anniversary of H.R. Owen's foundation, Malaya Group changed its name to H.R. Owen plc.
In 2000 the group bought Jack Barclay, becoming the world's largest Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor dealer. After the split of the brands at manufacturer level between Rolls-Royce Motor Cars (bought by BMW Group), and Bentley (Volkswagen Group), H.R. Owen retains Rolls-Royce retailing, while it moved Bentley retail to the Jack Barclay in Park Lane.
In 2004, the company sold its Volkswagen and the majority of its BMW brand dealerships to their respective manufacturers.[3] In the same year, H.R. Owen became the official dealer for London MPH at Earls Court.
Appointed official UK dealer for Bugatti in 2005, by 2008 H.R. Owen became the world's largest Bugatti dealer. The company is quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the securities code HRO.L
Andy Duncan, the former CEO of Channel 4, became CEO of HR Owen in September 2010, and announced a new growth strategy in May 2011. The company set out its ambition to offer the world's best all-round luxury car experience to its clients. One of the first steps in this strategy was the opening of a flagship Ferrari 'Atelier' in London's Knightsbridge, in the Berkeley Hotel, as part of a new alliance with Ferrari. At this centre, potential customers can customise their new Ferrari with the instructions being sent directly to Ferrari's factory in Maranello. The company also signalled that it was willing to look at suitable acquisitions in the luxury car industry.
On 1 August 2011, HR Owen announced the acquisition of Broughtons of Cheltenham, a smaller luxury motor dealer, for an enterprise value of £2.8 million. Broughtons owns three Bentley franchises in Cheltenham, Pangbourne and Byfleet (strengtheing HR Owen's relationship with Bentley) and an Aston Martin franchise in Cheltenham, forging a relationship between HR Owen and Aston Martin for the first time.