Bentley Powers Into Kent

It has taken three years of meticulous planning, seven months of skilled design and development and an investment of over £1 million. Now Bentley Kent’s brand new showroom in London Road, Sevenoaks, is complete and open for business.

Construction started last July and the striking glass and aluminium-clad building was officially opened at a celebration party this week, attended by over 200 customers and guests.

Likely to become something of a landmark on London Road, Bentley Kent reflects the quality, craftsmanship and excitement of the Bentley range, with marble flooring, soft leather furnishings and a state-of-the-art commissioning area where customers can specify their dream Bentley.

Guests at the opening party were able to see the 2003 Le Mans-winning Bentley Speed 8 racing car and a 1953 R-Type Continental, which provided many of the design cues for today’s Bentley Continental GT. Guests were entertained by a jazz trio, young classical musicians from Sevenoaks School and Kent singing sensation, Joseph McManners who performed songs from his new album.

The opening of the new showroom comes just a few months after a £200,000 refurbishment of Bentley Kent’s new service facility in nearby Dunton Green, taking the total investment to some £1.4 million. Customers’ cars are collected and transported (not driven) to Dunton Green, where state-of-the-art equipment and factory-trained technicians ensure that all Bentley cars are maintained to the highest standards.

“We are absolutely delighted with our new Bentley Kent facilities and look forward to welcoming all our existing and new customers,” said general manager, Ian Barrow. “This represents a huge investment by our parent company Jardine Motor Group, and it is very much in keeping with the advanced engineering and craftsmanship that have always been the hallmarks of the Bentley range.”

Geoff Dowding, Bentley Motors managing director, European Operations, officially opened Bentley Kent and pointed out that in 2006, Bentley will be celebrating 60 years of building cars at the factory in Crewe. He also gave an insight into the two new models for this year:

“Bentley has always been associated with the ultimate in open-top luxury grand touring and performance. Our aim is to build on this tradition with the new Azure, which starts delivery this summer, and also our second launch of 2006, and another new member of the Continental family, the Continental GTC. Like all new Bentleys our new convertible will offer that unique combination of supercar performance and dynamics but with a world class hand crafted interior.”

On show at Bentley Kent is the flagship Arnage and highly acclaimed Continental GT coupe as well as the Continental Flying Spur, the fastest production four door car in the world. Up to 20 pre-owned Bentley Approved cars are available to be previewed at the showroom.