It seems that GT Motorcycles in Plymouth are going to reopen in the next few weeks after their disastrous involvement with George White. It is strongly rumoured that they will also include their Ducati dealership which is great news for the Ducatisti in Devon and Cornwall.
One of our Club members was over at the shop a short while ago retrieving some Club property from the receivers and happened to run into Mike Grainger. His plan is to re-open fairly soon - possibly still using the "GT Motorcycles" name. I heard several rumours from other people at last night's MAG meeting, and all say pretty much the same thing : Mike is planning to re-open in the near future. Apparently ( and don't quote me on this ) he still owns the property and some of the stock. When George White went down they owed Mike "huge" amounts of money - some people are saying "telephone number" type amounts. Personally I was never a great fan of GT's, but I think Mike has been very badly let down ( and that's putting it politely, some may say "massively ripped off" ) by George White...
Yes he still owns the property in Plymouth. Reputed to have been owed around £200,000 I was told. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Howdo! Good to hear GT's is possibly opening up again and as a Ducati dealership (Good when requiring parts). But having brought my GSXR from George White and have it sit there (For warranty work - rear brake retaining pin fell out!!!! Third time of riding the bike) and be unable to get it due to the administrators being in (Fortunately got the work completed - and checked myself) I don't think I would trust them with engine work over say a reputable Ducati specialist, they would have to build up there reputation. There was only one guy at GT's/George Whites that I would trust with my Duke and that was Steve who operated the Dyno. Pablo
Gt Motorcycles/Mike Grainger are front page news in today's (Thursday) Plymouth Herald. It reads that George White collapsed owing him in excess of £500,000 !!! Customers have been volunteering to help him clean up his showrooms prior to opening so you can see that Mike is very well respected and we wish him and his renewed business well.
Check it out... Plymouth man relaunches business after seeing firm he sold collapse | This is Plymouth The rumours were pretty close to the truth...
Glad to hear they're coming back and mike is a good guy. BUT I personally would be v wary of having any work done there. My 11 month old hypermotard sat in there for 8 weeks with no repair and I found out later they were calling other specialists to try and find out what to do with it. Never got it back. I would rather go to a Duc specialist until they build up a good reputation but would happily use them for buying stuff.
"so you can see that Mike is very well respected..." That depends entirely on who you speak to ! To be fair though, Mike has obviously been very badly treated by George White.
Has anyone put a deposit down on a Panigale or other Ducati/Generic and will G.T or Ducati honour it. Or has it gone by way of the receiver and George White? How does this work? Claims court I guess?
GT's were open all day yesterday ( Easter Monday ) - Not exactly a showroom full of bikes, but definitely making an effort. Apparently the cafe has been moved onto the ground floor to encourage more people to just "drop in" ( maybe they've learnt that from Riders at Bridgewater ). I have heard that they plan to re-open two other shops as well...
