Enza and Road Range, Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle dealers in the north west, have merged to form Roanza.

Enza has held the Mercedes-Benz franchise for Manchester, Cheshire and North Staffordshire since the manufacturer opened for business in the UK in the mid-1970s. Road Range was formed in 1980 to support operators on Merseyside, and was subsequently awarded additional responsibilities for Deeside and North Wales.

Having previously led management buy outs of their respective dealerships, former dealers principal Brian Kempson (Road Range) and Roy Reed (Enza) now take the Roanza helm as joint managing Directors.

Meanwhile, the new company’s eight dealerships and one used truck centre will continue to trade under their previous names, pending completion of the integration process.

The merger was concluded with the help of £5.8 million in funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial.

Kempson said: “This exciting development underlines our confidence in, and commitment to, the long-term development of the Mercedes-Benz Truck and Van brands here in the North-West. It will allow us to share best practice to the benefit of customers and employees alike.”

Reed added: “This merger gives us a far greater capacity for investment, a fact that will allow us to open new facilities and improve existing ones. We now look forward to developing our people and services, to ensure that we’re best-placed to provide Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle operators with the industry’s finest levels of service.”