The BMW Group has reached an agreement to sell its British Motor Heritage
Limited classic car parts business, based in Witney, Oxfordshire, to the
Legacy Consortium.
Legacy is a private Consortium consisting of three people, David Bishop,
Neil Morrick, and John Yea, who have extensive experience in the classic car
field both in manufacturing operations and parts distribution.
Subject to completion of necessary due diligence, ownership of the British
Motor Heritage Limited operation will transfer to the Legacy Consortium by
the end of November 2001.
Following the sale, the existing employees will be taken over by the new
owners who will continue to operate the business from the Witney site for
the foreseeable future.
Established in 1983, British Motor Heritage Limited manufactures parts for a
number of classic vehicles, including complete bodyshells. These include the
Mini Classic, Austin-Healey Sprite, MG Midget, MGB, and Triumph TR6. In
addition, British Motor Heritage Limited distributes via a world-wide
network of Approved Specialist parts, for these models from a range of
suppliers to provide a comprehensive service to the classic car owner.
About British Motor Heritage Limited
British Motor Heritage Limited was established in 1983 as the commercial arm
of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust. Its aim was, and is, to put
original components for classic British cars back into manufacture, using
original tools wherever possible. Initially part of the Rover Group
alongside the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (now run independently
and the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, now owned by Land Rover), BMH
remained part of the BMW Group following the restructuring of the group's UK
activities in 2000.
British Motor Heritage Limited is the largest organization of its type in
the world. Drawing upon a wide range of expertise and original production
tooling, BMH is able to manufacture previously unobtainable parts for a
variety of popular classic British cars. BMH occupies a unique position, in
that it reproduces entire bodyshells for the Mini Classic, Austin-Healey
Sprite, MG Midget, MGB, and Triumph TR6 using the original tools, presses
and assembly jigs - a feat still not matched by any other organization in
the world!
The traditional skills employed in producing BMH body panels are matched by
the extensive use of modern materials and processes. Zinc coated steels are
used throughout and all panel work is electrophoretically primed, offering
the same level of corrosion resistance found on most modern vehicles.
Formerly based at diverse locations in Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and West
London, British Motor Heritage Limited has centralized all of its activities
in one location at Witney in Oxfordshire. Its office and manufacturing
complex now houses all of the essential elements of the company, from its
design, engineering, manufacturing, storage and distribution facilities to
its purchasing, sales, marketing and administrative support.
|