The chief executive of the £14.5m giant Jacksons garage has welcomed a deal with the island’s supplier of new Mercedes Benz cars.

Paul Collier also said he believed the Jacksons trading model was ’perfect for low volume markets’ such as the island.

He spoke just days before the official opening of the complex on Cooil Road.

Whitestone Garage Limited has become the latest island garage to be taken over by Jacksons Motor Group.

It means the Ballasalla business has agreed to transfer the Mercedes Benz and Smart sales and service business from its current Whitestone Garage location to Jacksons new, multi-franchise dealership in Braddan.

It follows a series of deals in which Jacksons has taken over a number of independent dealerships.

Jacksons said the announcement follows ’amicable discussions’ between Jacksons and Whitestone, ’aimed at continuing the representation of the prestige franchises on the island for many years to come, for the benefit of both staff and customers.’

Existing staff have all been offered continuing employment. So there will be no redundancies.

Jacksons has taken over other island vehicle businesses including Eurocars, formerly on Peel Road, Douglas, and Buchanan’s on the Isle of Man Business Park.

Jacksons boss Paul Collier said: ’The timing of this agreement is fantastic as it coincides with the opening of our new Cooil Road flagship development.

’As a group we already operate the Mercedes-Benz franchise in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Wight and it is fully embedded in our history which dates back to 1945.

’As island specialists, we are delighted to be able to say we will now operate the Mercedes-Benz franchise in all our island homes.

’We believe our new modern facility provides an appropriate home for this great motoring marque for generations to come and we are confident that our island-only operating model will serve the brand, its staff and valued customers in the best possible light in the future.

’We further believe that our unique multi-franchise trading model is perfect for low volume markets like the islands.

’There is no question in my mind that this is the future of car sales and servicing in the Isle of Man, as we have already demonstrated in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight.’

Whitestone confirmed the deal and said Whitestone will retain ownership of the Ballasalla site but will transfer the key assets of Whitestone’s business to Jacksons who will take over the sales and servicing of Mercedes-Benz cars and light vans and SMART cars on the Isle of Man by the end of August.

All Whitestone employees have been offered continuing employment.

The company said in a statement: ’While the franchise has been operated as an independent business on the Isle of Man since 1971, the sale to Jacksons is in line with the global trend of network dealer consolidation.

Andrew Thomas, director of Whitestone, said: ’We would like to take this opportunity to thank our loyal customers and the staff who have delivered such a premium service to the island’s residents for almost 50 years.

’We wish Jacksons well in continuing to maintain those high standards.’

Jacksons chief executive Paul Collier in the servicing bay at the new Jacksons garage complex on Cooil Road