HR Owen is a premium and luxury car brand retailer and plc with 15 sales franchises and 18 aftersales franchises for Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Mini, Pagani and Rolls-Royce.
Its acquisition of Jack Barclay in 2000 made it the largest Rolls Royce and Bentley retailer in the world. In 2011 it opened the world's largest and most advanced dedicated Bentley service operation in Wandsworth.
The company has been in existence since 1932 when established by Harold Rolfe Owen in London.
In 1997 it was sold to Malaya Group plc.
In 2011 HR Owen revealed its new 'experience everything' strategy for "sustainable growth", which includes expanding its luxury car dealerships, adding driving skills and motorsport businesses and seeking suitable targets for takeover.
The dealer group was put under a strategic review by chairman Jon Walden in order to make it more sustainable and profitable.
It wants stronger relationships with its clients throughout their entire period of car ownership, from pre-purchase through to tailored aftersales offerings.
It also wants to provide additional products and services that enhance clients' ownership experience, such as driving skills training, experience events, motorsport and upgrading in-car digital infotainment systems.
The group aims to build on the market shares of its existing businesses with Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Bugatti.
It will also actively look at options with other luxury car brands. This includes looking for strategic, value-enhancing acquisitions to create a bigger scale and a stronger base on which to build.
The strategy also includes ambitions for more brand partnerships like that recently announced with The Berkeley Hotel in London (a Ferrari boutique), and constant control on costs by closing loss-making businesses.
In 2011 HR Owen ended its short-lived relationship with Alf a Romeo.
Its single Alfa Romeo business was loss-making. The luxury car dealer group had taken on the Italian brand for London in 2006.
2010 turnover was £158 million (2009: £125m) on total car sales of 1,130 units.
In October 2011 the group appointed a new managing director. Joe Doyle, formerly HPI regional managing director, took over from Andy Duncan who left after just over a year in post to work for Camelot UK Lotteries.
HR Owen's 2011 financial results showed pre-tax profit dipped from £2m to £1.8m while turnover was boosted 25% to £192.4m.
Profit before exceptional items, discontinued operations and tax totalled £1.6m, was down marginally on 2010's £1.7m.
In its 2012 results, however, sales were up 26% to £243.5m in 2012, profit before tax up 28% to £2.3m from £1.8m. New car registrations increased by 11% on a like-for-like basis and used car volumes up 5%.
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