Top 50 Indie Grove Retail has just purchased its 27th site – Calderside Garage, just off the M8 in Shotts, North Lanarkshire, which it intends to knockdown and rebuild.
Although based in London, Grove’s boss Chelvatheebam Chelvam, known as Chelvam, has seen lots of potential in the Scottish market. “There are some great sites in Scotland, ripe for development. With Calderside, it’s in a great location. We will knock it down and put in a new shop and new forecourt, with fuel from Shell and Londis for the shop. We’re at the planning stage and anticipate the work will cost in the region of £600,000-£700,000.”
Chelvam did not want to disclose the price he paid for Calderside but he bought it from
Glenys and Gibson Inglis, via Christie & Co. The couple managed the site for over two decades before choosing to sell
The couple said: “We decided to sell the business as it was time to retire. It was vital that our legacy continued in the area and as such, we needed to be sure that it was sold to the correct party. With Mark Lavery’s expertise and knowledge of the sector, he was able to find a suitable buyer off-market without the need to advertise.”
Mark Lavery, associate director – retail at Christie & Co, added: “We were tasked to find a suitable buyer who would be able to modernise the business and move it forward while keeping the traditional feel that the previous owners had established. We carried out a confidential off-market campaign and quickly found a buyer who understood the site, its history and what the previous owners had built over the years.”
Meanwhile, Chelvam has ambitions for more sites; he is currently in the process of acquiring forecourts in Scotland and in England.
