A HEREFORD furniture store will soon be transformed into a state-of-the-art car showroom.

Hereford Furniture, based on Staniers Way, will cease trading at the end of June to make way for Listers Land Rover Hereford.

Listers, a family business, currently has a franchised Land Rover and Range Rover retail site in Much Cowarne but the move will bring it closer to the city.

Anthony Hope, brand manager for Listers Land Rover Hereford, said: “I think the brand fits the area extremely well.

“The business will be very innovative and it will be a state-of-the-art showroom.”

The new dealership will double in capacity and will also service Jaguar products with the possibility of becoming a dual-branded site in the future.

But it does signal the end for the family business that has run Hereford Furniture since 2006.

The store featured in the BBC Two programme Digby Jones: The New Troubleshooter last year when Lord Digby Jones offered advice to help the company grow.

Alan Reilly, joint owner of Hereford Furniture, said: “We decided to go for it because we thought we had nothing to lose but it didn’t really have an effect on us.

“It’s very sad for some of the employees here but we are working with Listers to establish whether there could be any job transfers.

It is just the end of an era.

Over the years we have had some very good clients including M&S but it’s a very tough world.”

The new site will give Listers Land Rover Hereford about 2.4 acres of space, with an eight-car showroom and capacity for 10 workshop bays, which will increase the speed of service for customers.

The number of staff will also double and go from just over 20 to in excess of 40. Hereford Furniture currently employees 25 people.

“It’s about creating a destination, having the service aspects and the investment of a new showroom with the latest technology,”added Mr Hope.

He said the new site should be open in 2016.

There will be a closing down sale from Friday, May 1, at Hereford Furniture.