JOHN COLLINGRIDGE: INSIDE THE CITY

Just drive away: BCA is running out of road

In December Avril Palmer-Baunack, BCA’s executive chairman, raked in shares worth almost £29m
In December Avril Palmer-Baunack, BCA’s executive chairman, raked in shares worth almost £29m

Chances are that when you pop into the showroom to pick up your used Volkswagen Golf, it has passed through the hands of BCA Marketplace.

BCA is the spine that links what it says are 50% of car movements in the UK. Its services range from transporting new cars from ports to dealerships, to buying second-hand vehicles via its webuyanycar.com website, to selling them at its British Car Auctions sites.

Founded as an auction house in 1946, its growth was turbocharged in 2015 when it was bought for £1.2bn from buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice by a listed acquisition firm, Haversham Holdings, in a reverse takeover.

That deal was driven by Avril Palmer-Baunack, the fiery Scot whose career has been spent in the car