Mr Wright, who spent 15 years at Manheim Auctions, has bought the business for an undisclosed sum.

Joining him on the board is Alan Agate as operations director with 35 years' experience in auctions and Bob Knowles as sales director, who has worked in remarketing for the likes of BCA, CMA and Motability.

The four-acre site has been trading since 1961 and is situated on the Lancing Business Park, eight miles west of Brighton and sells around 6,000 vehicles each year through 11 auctions per month; including a weekly fleet and finance sale, a fortnightly light commercial sale, a monthly HGV sale and a weekly evening sale for dealer part exchanges and private buyers. Currently Shoreham employs 27 people.

Shoreham’s plans are to build volumes to nearer 10,000 vehicles through the growth of its current fleet vendor base with the likes of Motability, ING Car Lease and Duncton Finance, and to grow the number of local vendors and buyers using the auction, plus the adoption of a higher-profile van sale. There are also plans to expand its current online sales platform over the coming months.

'Shoreham is a good business and has a strong catchment area for both vendors and buyers and gives us a solid platform on which to build for the future. The internet is going to be an important tool and we will be utilising technology to meet the changing dynamics of the current climate,' said Mr Wright.

The site consists of two auction halls, a valeting bay and an onsite MOT testing station and service bay, which is open to the public and the trade. Shoreham also runs its own transportation service for single or multiple deliveries.