Beacham European placed in receivership after failed court case
Auckland luxury car dealer Beacham European has gone into receivership following what a High Court judge called a “hopeless” legal case over its former showroom property.
Receivers were appointed by Prime Finance Ltd earlier this month to the Penrose-based dealership, which specialised in refurbished high-end European marques such as Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Bentley.
The company’s sole director and general manager, Alexander Beacham, has also seen a related business, Beacham Parts and Services Ltd, placed into receivership under the same financier. The move came just days before a court judgment ordered Beacham European to pay more than $61,000 in legal costs.
Court calls case “improper”
The dispute centred on Beacham European’s former premises at 491 Great South Road, owned by Beacham Properties Ltd, another Beacham-associated company that defaulted on its mortgage. The property was subsequently sold in a mortgagee sale.
When the new owner, 491GSR Ltd, required the dealership to vacate, Beacham European claimed it held a lease until 2033 and sought urgent court intervention to prevent eviction.
However, Justice Laura O’Gorman said there was no foundation for the claim, noting Beacham had earlier signed a statutory declaration stating there were no fixed-term leases on the property.
“The existence of the alleged lease was not asserted to the mortgagee until shortly before the auction and there was no evidence whatsoever that the mortgagee had agreed to be bound by it,” Justice O’Gorman said in her judgment.
The judge ruled the company’s application “should not have been made,” describing Beacham European’s conduct as “improper.”
Financial fallout
Following the failed case, Beacham European was ordered to pay $61,314.50 in costs to 491GSR Ltd.
Speaking to Stuff.co.nz, Alexander Beacham said the company had not traded for about a year and was separate from Beacham Special Vehicles Ltd, the Hawke’s Bay-based business run by his father, Gregory Beacham, known for classic Jaguar restoration.
“The other companies haven’t traded for a long time… there’s not really anything that’s changing,” Beacham says. “It’s just winding up some companies that haven’t traded for a long time.”
He attributed the receivership to Prime Finance enforcing a General Security Agreement across all his companies and downplayed the significance of the court decision.
“I don’t see what that’s got to do with anything. If a company is in receivership, it’s not going to pay court costs. It doesn’t have to pay court costs,” he says. “There’s nothing really to report. It’s just a non-event.”
Property records show Beacham was also the sole director of Beacham Properties Ltd, which owned the Great South Road site since 2021. Between May 2024 and June 2025, several caveats were lodged against the property by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Prime Finance Ltd, Mark Cochrane, and Key Commercial Ltd.
