Former car showroom to become builders merchant

Alec Doyle – Local democracy reporter

A popular former car showroom is to be transformed into a builders yard.

Permission has been granted for national builders’ merchant Travis Perkins to operate from the former Dickens Group headquarters in Rhostyllen, once Wrexham’s main Vauxhall dealership, which closed in December 2023.

Wrexham County Borough Council’s planning department has approved the plans, which include the refurbishment of the existing showroom and garage bays to allow for storage and collection of building materials, the erection of an additional building on the site and appropriate landscaping.

The site will allow Travis Perkins to consolidate its existing Wrexham sites on Benjamin Road and Ruabon Road under one, larger, roof.

Showroom

According to the firm’s planning statement this will ‘significantly enhance the overall customer experience, enabling both a full product offer and full range of services to be provided’.

Once the headquarters of the Dickens Group motor company headed by Neville Dickens –  it was a vehicle showroom and garage from November 2006 to December 2023.

Dickens grew into a major dealership group in Wrexham, trading for more than 50 years before closing its showrooms two years ago.

Dickens Group still operates its Station Motors showroom on Chester Road in Mold.

Travis Perkins says the new site will create 25 jobs at Rhostyllen, rising to 32 over five years and will feature its kitchen specialist showroom Benchmarx.