Manheim will open its Shepshed commercial vehicle auction centre in January 2016.

The centre, which the company says will become its 'CV centre of excellence', has been redeveloped with a seven-figure investment.

A new arrival process will minimise the number of vehicle movements on site. The vehicles will move from wash and valeting, through inspection and on to imaging before being parked ready for auction in one seamless flow.

While Manheim expects significant physical buyer footfall at Shepshed, one mile from Junction 23 of the M1, it is expected that many of the commercial vehicles sold through the auction centre will be bought by online buyers. In 2015 so far, 30% of all vans and 65% of all trucks sold by Manheim in the UK have been bought by buyers from the comfort of their own offices or homes.

Tim Hudson, managing director for Manheim Remarketing, said: “Manheim Shepshed will be unrivalled as a commercial vehicle auction centre in the UK. As well as the site once again playing a productive role in the local community, it reopening is evidence of our sustained growth and success in the commercial vehicle market, with monthly sales volumes consistently above the previous year, in some cases by more than 50%.”

The first fortnightly van sale at Shepshed will take place on January 11, with the first truck sale on January 21 in the morning, along with the first monthly plant sale in the afternoon.

Vendors selling commercial vehicles at Shepshed will include BT Fleet, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hitachi Capital, Pentagon, Perrys, Royal Mail, Severn Trent Water, The Car Group and Van Monster, along with other vendors in the process of confirming their sales with Manheim.