BRIDGWATER motor trade company Hickley Valtone has announced it is to sell its Refinish Division to a Leicester-based company, Hex Holdings.

The 80-year-old company has sold the division, which had been supplying vehicle paints and associated products to vehicle body repairers, to concentrate its efforts on other parts of the company, which it felt had a greater opportunity for growth and profitability.

Hickley, which has its head office in Taunton, has five other business divisions, namely Garage Equipment, Automotive Diagnostics, Automotive Parts, Technical Workshops and Healthcare and Mobility Duncan Meikle, joint managing director, said: "We have, throughout our history, been pretty good at recognising business trends and making the right decisions at the right time and we feel that now is the right time to withdraw from the vehicle body repair market.

Following this transaction, the company will be known as Hickleys Ltd, will have a staff of 60, a sales turnover of over £5million per year and will operate out of its existing premises in Taunton and Bridgwater.

"We look towards the future with great optimism; we have a great range of products and services to offer and, most importantly, we have highly experienced, capable and loyal members of staff," Duncan added.