Chris Pillar of PricewaterhouseCoopers

Administrators today confirmed the sale of a Norfolk branch of Rapid Car Parts Ltd which closed last week.

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PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) had closed the North Walsham branch of the UK-wide distributor of automotive parts and accessories along with three others in the South East - but said there were “no planned redundancies” at this stage.

The firm’s remaining five sites - including facilities in Whiffler Road, Norwich, Vanguard Road, Great Yarmouth, and Barnards Way, Lowestoft - remained open and continue to trade.

But joint administrators, David Baxendale, Rob Hunt and Chris Pillar of PwC today announced the sale of the business and assets of Rapid Car Parts Limited to Water Newco Holdings Limited a division of Unipart Automotive Limited.

Based in the South East, Rapid Car Parts is one of the UK’s largest distributors of automotive parts and accessories, employing about 90 people across its UK operations.

It went into administration on December 7 following difficult trading conditions and significant cash pressure.

Unipart has acquired the remaining five branches including the sites in Norwich, Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth.

Chris Pillar, joint administrator and director at PwC said:

“The sale means that it remains business as usual for customers and staff at the three local branches,” Mr Pillar said. “I’m delighted that we have been able to secure a sale of the business so quickly that has enabled the transfer of employees and preserve the continuity of supply to customers in the run up to Christmas.

“All 40 local jobs will be saved and the sites will stay open,” he added. “I would like to thank the staff for their hard work and commitment over the past few days.”