Pride Park-based NK Motors, one of the UK’s top performing car dealerships, is opening a new showroom in Long Eaton, 25 years after purchasing the site.

The showroom, in Tamworth Road, Long Eaton, had been leased to Pidcock Motorcycles since 2014 until that firm entered administration last year.

But it was also the site where NK Motors’ current managing director Sanj Kumar began his career as a car salesman 25 years ago, after the property was purchased by his dad and NK Group chairman Nindy Kumar in 2000.

The Long Eaton business – called ‘NK Motors – The Used Car Centre’ - will provide the group with additional stock capacity for 80 used vehicles, with plans for an overflow showroom for 40 additional cars at another Long Eaton site owned by the group nearby.

The decision to expand the group by re-opening its former site has created seven new jobs, with a further four in the pipeline. More than 500 candidates applied for the various roles.

NK Motors’ flagship showroom in Orient Way, Pride Park, combined with its second site at Eldon Road Business Park, Chilwell, Nottingham, is one of the country’s best-performing Kia dealerships for new car sales. Both current sites also sell hundreds of used vehicles every month.

Sanj said: “It’s a great feeling for me personally to see the site I began my career at 25 years ago coming back into use as our latest car showroom"

“Since those days, when we were selling 60 cars a month, we’ve grown from a small family business into a huge dealership, particularly through our partnership with Kia."

“Having outgrown the Long Eaton site back in 2014, we’re so looking forward to bringing it back to its former glory as a centre for used cars. The new staff are all ready and raring to go, currently undergoing some intense training at our other sites in Pride Park and Chilwell.”

Sanj said that the new showroom will stock cars ranging from £5,000 to £50,000 in value. The NK group is currently offering above-market prices to sellers in order to build up its stock in time for opening during the first week in April.

The firm has spent around £100,000 on refurbishments and repairs of the property since getting the keys back in November 2024.

Sanj and Nindy had been looking to expand the business last year and conducted viewings of several potential sites before learning that their Long Eaton site had become available to them as an option.

“It was sad to see Pidcock Motorcyles go into administration,” said Sanj, “but it came at the right time for our expansion, so it seemed like the obvious thing to do. We were initially considering re-opening as a motorbike franchise, but that market has faced some recent challenges recently so we decided to revert back to a dedicated used car centre.”

NK Motors, which employs 80 staff, turned over around £80m in 2024, with sights set on a milestone £100m turnover this year.

The business leases more than 1,000 fleet cars to large business clients every year as well as selling around 1,000 new Kia vehicles each year and a target of 3,500 used cars in 2025.