Two brothers who sold a Kent car sales firm founded by their father 49 years ago have spoken of the "bittersweet" moment they told him they were selling up.

Glen and Thomas Obee last week completed the multi-million pound sale of Canterbury-based Motorline, bringing to an end their family's connection to the business.

And one of the first to learn of the deal was their 87-year-old dad Tom, who started the firm in 1972 by opening a small second-hand car showroom in the city.

It has since grown into a multiple franchise business with 1,500 employees and a predicted turnover this year of £800 million.

Industry rivals Marshall Motor Group bought the company last week for £64.5m.

Speaking from the gleaming Canterbury Audi dealership Motorline opened just a year ago in Vauxhall Road, former chairman Glen says he approached his father, who retired in 2000, with some trepidation about the sale.

“I guess it was kind of a bittersweet moment for him because he started it all,” he recalls. “But after his spell of ill health, he appreciates you have to have a work-life balance and he wants the best for us."

Following Tom's retirement, his three sons – Glen, Thomas and Gary – helped drive the company’s expansion, which saw it open 52 dealerships covering nine big car brands across the south.

But Gary retired last year, and Glen and Thomas decided the time was right to embark on new careers in property development.

Glen says the business had become increasingly demanding of their time.

“We have been very hands-on, which is how we prefer to do things,” he said. “I was driving about 50,000 miles a year to visit dealerships, often with overnight stays, so have been away from home a lot.

“We are proud to have received many industry awards, but it just got to the stage where we had to start to think about our work-life balance.

“Our older brother Gary retired last year and we started to consider our own futures, because we have spent all our working lives in the business.

“I started out washing and cleaning cars more than 40 years ago while still at school, so it's consumed my life, and now it’s become a big old monster to manage.

“You start to question when is the right time to make an exit and how, because it’s very complex.”

Glen says their main concern was for their loyal employees, who he wrote to personally about the sale, both to thank and reassure them.

“It was important to us who the business was sold to, and we know the Marshall Group well and the chief executive Gupta is a good friend,” he said.

'I have had a lump in my throat about not seeing the staff anymore... '

“He shares the same ethos as us and we are very confident our staff will be looked after and thrive because there is a lot of talent among them.”

The brothers had been running and expanding the business ever since dad Tom retired in 2000, aged 65.

Over the years it has grown to become one of the biggest motor groups in the south east and south west, with Kent dealerships in Canterbury, Ashford, Maidstone, Dartford, Gillingham and Tunbridge Wells.

The franchises, which will now be rebranded as Marshall Group, include Volkswagen, Lexus, Hyundai, Peugeot, ŠKODA, Nissan, Maserati, Toyota and Audi.

But the freehold of most of the sites will remain in Obee ownership.

'I’m certainly not someone who can retire early and just let the grass grow under my feet...'

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being in the business, but the time is right to leave – although I have had a lump in my throat about not seeing the staff any more, " said Glen.

“Neither of my two daughters – one of whom is at university in Phoenix and the other a primary school teacher in London – are interested in the motor trade.

“And Thomas has 11-year-old twins, so there is no natural successor,” he said.

One of Gary’s sons, Richard, is the dealer principal at Canterbury Audi, where he will remain.

Glen and Thomas say they will now continue to expand their property development business.

“I’ve always been interested in property and I’m certainly not someone who can retire early and just let the grass grow under my feet,” he said.

“But my wife and I are going to get away on a much-needed holiday, and I hope to spend more time on our boat and in the garden.”

Among the projects the Obees are working on is the development of the country’s biggest Toyota dealership in Bristol for the Marshall Group, which they had started before the sale of the business.

Closer to home, they are converting Wesley Manse in Whitstable Road, Canterbury, into eight luxury flats, and in Maidstone they are leading a £30m project to transform the former art deco Rootes motor dealership into more than 150 homes with commercial space on the ground floor.

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