Hexham’s We Buy Cars celebrates five years — and a family legacy dating back to 1970

A Hexham car-buying business has celebrated its fifth anniversary by looking back across three generations of family memories, from classic cars on a Northumberland forecourt in the 1970s to a modern fleet of branded vans.

John James opened We Buy Cars on August 24, 2021, after being mentored in the trade by his late stepfather, Mick Robson. The business has since grown from a laptop and a shipping container into an operation with a recovery truck and several branded vans driven by John and members of his family.

The fifth anniversary comes nearly two years after Mick died in November 2024. For John, the milestone is both a celebration of the company’s progress and a tribute to the man who taught him how to buy and sell vehicles.

From Allendale Motor Company to We Buy Cars

The family’s involvement in the motor trade stretches back to 1970, when Mick bought Allendale Motor Company at The Forge in Northumberland. The forecourt became known for a striking selection of vehicles, with McLaren, Aston Martin, Lotus and Mercedes among the marques seen there during its heyday.

The site is now a cafe, while the business was downsized and moved to the family farm in 2003. That farm remains the company’s base.

John’s own route into the trade began as a teenager in 2016, when Mick advised him to buy an unremarkable Fiat, improve it and sell it for a profit. Four years later, John and Mick secretly wrapped Mick’s parents’ van with the words “We Buy Cars”. It was the first time the name used by the current business appeared publicly, from the same place where Mick’s motor-trade story began.

When We Buy Cars launched the following year, John started with very limited equipment: a laptop and a shipping container. Within 12 months, the business had bought, sold or scrapped more than 100 cars.

Mick later stepped back from the active role he had played, as the company continued to grow. The early family history remains part of the business’s identity, reflected in its vehicles, photographs and the anniversary display.

A local business with community links

We Buy Cars has also built links in the Hexham area through grassroots football. The business has sponsored football kits for Hexham FC and Corbridge United’s under-15 team.

Those sponsorships have given the company a visible presence beyond its work buying vehicles. The anniversary photographs include players wearing the sponsored kits, as well as the business’s branded toy car, transporters and an inflatable gorilla used at a county show.

John said the most important part of the five years had not been the vehicles themselves, but the relationships formed with customers and local families. He recalled young people recognising the company’s name from football shirts and families who had needed help after a bereavement.

“Mick taught me the trade. He never quite trusted my way of doing it, the websites and the data, and I like to think the last five years would have won him round. This anniversary is for him.”

He said his stepfather’s advice still guides the business: keep overheads low and treat people as you would wish to be treated.

“What I remember most is not the cars, it is the people. The lads on bikes who recognised our name from their football kits. The families we have helped after a bereavement. That is what five years actually looks like.”

Photographs connect past and present

The anniversary collection includes images from the company’s five-year history alongside photographs from Mick’s earlier career. Among the historic vehicles pictured are an Aston Martin DB6, a Porsche 911, a Lotus Esprit Turbo and a Mercedes SL.

One photograph shows Mick behind the wheel of a boat beside the family Range Rover in the 1970s. Another, taken in August 2026, shows his son Jack Robson recreating the pose.

Other images show the original van carrying the We Buy Cars lettering, John beside a branded van, a Porsche 911 on the company transporter and the family’s presence at community and county events.

John, who is 27, said the connection with Hexham and the surrounding area is personal. He grew up locally and played for the same clubs as a child, making the sponsorships particularly meaningful to him.

“I grew up here and played for these clubs as a kid. Kit sponsorship would have meant a lot to my family back then, so being able to do it now has been the best part of the whole five years.”

We Buy Cars is continuing to operate from the family farm, with John and relatives involved in running the business. The anniversary marks five years since its formal launch, while also preserving the memory of the Northumberland motor business Mick began more than half a century ago.