The development is located alongside a stretch of the A12 trunk road that runs between Chelmsford and Colchester.
Scheduled for completion before the end of the year, the new centre will be open round-the-clock, six days a week. Crucially, the three-acre site offers ample space for drivers to manoeuvre and park their trucks.
At the heart of the 2,500 sq m building will be a comprehensively equipped workshop with nine full-length truck and trailer bays. Two of these will have 22-metre pits, as will a third which is being kitted out as an Authorised Testing Facility so that inspectors from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency can carry out on-site truck MOT tests.
A further eight bays will be set aside for van maintenance and repairs, and for MOT tests in the Class 4, 5 and 7 categories. These will be carried out by the dealer’s own technicians.
Truck wash facilities are also being installed, while the 700 sq m parts department will carry broader and deeper stocks of Mercedes-Benz GenuineParts than has previously been possible. Not only will the team serve workshop colleagues and over-the-counter customers, but as the company’s new trade hub they will also make urgent and other deliveries to own account and independent maintenance facilities, garages, mechanics and others throughout Essex, Suffolk, and parts of Hertfordshire.
Meanwhile, shortly before construction work began at Witham, S & B Commercials embarked on a £1.2-million redevelopment of its truck-dedicated workshop in West Thurrock. It adds another three full-length truck and trailer bays to the six already in place. Two of the new bays will be the first at this location with pits. One is being fitted out as an ATF, the other will be fully equipped for ADR and pet reg work, and the parts department is also being extended. This scheme, which should be completed before the end of March 2022, increases capacity by 50%.
The South African-owned, multi-marque Motus Group (UK) acquired Orwell Truck & Van in 2013 and S & B Commercials the following year. Today, they have a combined workforce of more than 400.
Seward added: “We’ve put in a great deal of time and effort over the last few years, on bringing the two dealer groups together, introducing new systems, capitalising on synergies and developing strategies to bring all of our sites up to the standards that we, and most importantly our customers, expect.”