Jacksons boss Paul Collier says the £14.5 million spent on the island’s new ‘super garage’ will be money well spent.

And he firmly believes customers will be delighted with what is on offer at the giant site over nearly seven acres on Cooil Road.

A so-called ‘soft opening’ has seen the Motor Mall side of the business up and running in the last fortnight.

An official opening will take place in the summer after the Jacksons side of the operation is unveiled.

Mr Collier said it will only now be a matter of weeks before everything is in full swing.

Speaking from the site first thing yesterday morning (Monday) Mr Collier told Business News he was ‘proud and delighted’ with the way things had gone and said:

lMotorists will look forward to coming along and being able to take a look at up to 25 brands on offer on the site.

lThey will be able to buy new cars ranging in price from around £6,000 up to £250,000 for a luxury motor.

lAlready around 80 people are employed on the site and this will rise in the weeks to come.

lDrivers get their cars serviced in a giant, futuristic, workshop where there are up to 20 bays.

lEvery penny for the development has come from private means.

lThe business is backing the move to electric cars. An electric charging point will be available for public use and there will be several more for use by technicians.

lThe business is good for the island economy and there is ‘no need’ for people to consider buying their cars from the UK as there is such a big choice here.

l Rumours that have circulated for months that a supermarket will be on site are wide of the mark.

lApart from a six month planning delay at the beginning the operation had gone smoothly.

Sitting in the Motor Mall showroom Mr Collier said: ‘By June the Jacksons element of the site will be open.

‘To get the whole site totally open will have been about 18 months, so it’s hats off to Hartford [the main contractor], they have done a good job along with all the sub-contractors.’

Mr Collier said before any work on the site began, the road access had to be sorted out and the building of the roundabout.

‘I think people were looking at the site for a long time thinking there was nothing happening but the road and the groundworks had to be sorted first.

‘There was quite a lot of site levelling to do, and a lot of drainage matters to sort out.

‘So before anything started to appear we had been on site about six months before people could actually see something forming.’

When everything is up and running there will be around 25 brands all showing off their products to potential customers

The range of cars lookset to be staggering - ‘from premium cars such as Bentley and Aston Martin, down to volume, budget and family motoring.

‘It is a massive range,’ admits Mr Collier.

There are two sides to the operation. Motor Mall will cater for the so-called ‘volume’ motoring, and Jacksons will be for the ‘more luxurious brands.’

In answer to critics who claim they buy their cars from the UK Mr Collier said: ‘Come and try us! Our aim is to be equally as competitive as the UK on a local basis and we do that with two things.

‘One, our lower operating costs by putting all the brands together in one business, on a new efficient site. And, two, our purchasing power, with the manufacturers, because we operate in four island territories for them. We buy a lot of cars from each manufacturer.

‘We will offer good value and it will be certainly comparable to the UK.’

Among the brands ‘new’ to the island are Skoda, Hyundai, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Abarth, VW Commercial, Volvo and Ssang Yong, Audi, Porsche, Bentley and Aston Martin.

It has been a ‘labour of love’ for Mr Collier.

‘People will have seen this in the public domain for around the last two years, from planning to build to completion.

‘I had been on this projectfor around two years prior to that, negotiating with motor manufacturers, visiting their head offices and going through architectural plans, presentations and so on.

‘Each manufacturer has to approve the financial basis of the business and they won’t allow you to open on a whim. And they won’t allow you to open if they don’t think it is sustainable. So I had to do all that before we we even went to planning.

‘So by the time I open this it will have been around five years of my life dedicated to getting this open. It’s been worth it, I love it.

‘I love the Isleof Man anyway.

‘I lived here in my 20s when I worked here for Midland Bank. The island is a place I’m passionate about and I believe it warrants a business like this.

‘Why should people have to think about going across to buy their cars? We should be able to offer the local value and business.’

Customers have already been going in to Motor Mall over the last fortnight and have snapped up vehicles from brands that include Renault and Peugeot. Motor Mall was previously in Peel Road on the former Eurocars site.

Mr Collier took Business News on a tour of the sprawling site which was a hive of activity. He said customers will be faced with an incredible ‘mini motor show’ when it is all up and running.