Rootes Garage

The Rootes garage isn’t just a building, this place has history. Apart from being a fantastic building it played a big part of the British motor trade. The building sits on the river Len at the point where is joins the river medway in Maidstone

Originally founded in Kent in 1919 by William Rootes as a car sales company, Rootes grew and took over other companies, and became one of the earliest advocates of the policy of "badge engineering". Among take-overs were London-based companies Talbot (1934), British Light Steel Pressings (1937) and Thrupp & Maberly (1939). Hillman was intended to be the basic brand, Singer slightly more upmarket, Sunbeam was the sports brand, while Humber made luxury models. Commer and Karrier were the commercial vehicle brands, with Commer manufacturing light vans with the Karrier badge appearing on heavy vans and light duty trucks (mainly for municipal use).

The Rootes Group was a British automobile manufacturer, which was based in the Midlands and south of England. Rootes was the parent company of many well-known British marques, including Hillman, Humber, Singer, Sunbeam, Talbot, Commer and Karrier. At its height Rootes had plants in the midlands at Coventry and Birmingham, in the south at Acton, Luton, Dunstable and Maidstone, and in Scotland at Linwood. The company no longer exists, having been taken over in stages by Chrysler, and subsequently sold to Peugeot and, in part, Renault.