When the Reliance Garage was formed in 1929 in the Hay Market, Norwich, the company employed the services of a teenager, Ernest Holden. Hailing from a family supported on a 60 acre farm, Ernest was the 13th child of his father. It was clear to Ernest at an early age that he would have to escape his farming background to find a better life.
Ernest Holden travelled to Norwich in search of work. He had never driven a car in his life; on his first day Ernest was asked to drive a car across Norwich city centre. Not wishing to draw his new employer's attention to the fact he had never sat in a car, Ernest got in and made his way across Norwich, teaching himself to drive on the journey. His love affair with cars had started.
In time Ernest became a mechanic, a skill in short supply that spared him from fighting overseas in World War 2. During the war Ernest became the self appointed manager of the Reliance Garage. It was during this time that his hard work ethic and commitment to serving others became the principles on which the company would build its future.
Ernest went on to buy the business from its original owners. The company's culture of delivering on its promises enabled it to grow and prosper, expanding into many other sites around Norwich. The company sold and repaired anything from bicycles to tractors, caravans to trucks, using parts fabricated and machined from raw materials on site.
Ernest was later joined in the business by his eldest son Tony, and together they set about a period of modernisation, culminating in the formation of The Holden Group. An organisation that would go onto to become one of the first multi-franchised dealer groups in the country, nationally acknowledged as setting the benchmark for good, customer focused service within the motor industry.
The Holden Group went on winning awards for customer service and also become recognised as an employer of choice. Seeking to refine its portfolio of businesses, the decision was taken to focus purely on the selling and servicing of new and used cars.
The Holden Group entered its third generation of the Holden family when Tony's son Tim joined the company in 2001. The Holden Group currently represents four major car franchises and specialises in the adaptation of vehicles for disabled users.
Following Ernest's death in 2006, the business is still trading on the original values of trust and dependability, which he instilled in the company's heart. Today's customers can be confident in the peace of mind that comes from a family business with a near 80 year tradition of providing excellent personable service.