The first-ever garage in the Kwik Fit auto chain established by Scottish entrepreneur Sir Tom Farmer has been acquired by the Duke of Buccleuch's property investment company.
Originally opened in 1971, the site at 4-6 McDonald Road in Edinburgh has been acquired by the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust. The charity is responsible for the Buccleuch Art Collection and several of the historic properties those items are housed in.
One of seven siblings, Sir Tom founded his first tyre retailing business in 1964, which he sold in 1969 for £450,000. He returned to his native Edinburgh two years later and founded the Kwik Fit chain of garages, which grew to become the world's largest independent tyre and automotive repair specialists with more than 2,000 centres operating in 18 different countries.
The business was sold to Ford in 1999 for more than £1 billion.
Phil Eves of Buccleuch Property said: “We are trying to move the trust portfolio into more modern properties with a larger percentage of secure income, this purchase is a reinvestment of funds into a modern ground floor unit let to Kwik Fit for a further 12 years with strong rental growth prospects”.
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