In 1973 Stuart and Ellis formed North Leicester Motors ltd, a local car garage and Petrol station in Ellistown. This quickly became North Leicester Motorcycles and sold new MZ’s and various small bikes, it wasn’t long before the Italian bikes started to become the core passion of the business with new Morini, Guzzi and Ducati filling the showroom.
The late 80’s and early 90’s saw a brief flirt with Japan in the form of a Kawasaki Agency but Stuart’s passion was with Italian machinery so a decision was taken to remain independent of Japan and focus on used Italian machinery .The business went on to become synonymous with the marque Moto Morini for which NLM was the world’s biggest supplier of bikes and spare parts. This remained the core of the business for some 20 years plus and North Leicester (NLM) gained a global reputation as honest and reliable.
Ellis took retirement many years back which left Stuart at the helm for the last 15 + years but he too was now in the market for a quieter life which put the emphasis on his son, Chris, to take over. Having just turned 40 and been involved with the business in one way or another for the majority of his life is was an obvious move for him to take over. Arrangements were made late 2018 for the company to be taken over by Chris from January 2019.
The new broom swept clean so the company underwent a huge transformation and was re-branded Lusso Veloce Ltd as NLM didn’t shout exotic Italian It simplified the running of the company as there would now only be one senior member of staff. Morini parts were sold to Mdina Italia to sit alongside their Ducati parts as this seemed a smart move for all involved.2019 has seen a fantastic year for Lusso Veloce and it has undergone much change with the buildings renovated and a lift installed to take motorcycles up to the first floor creating a large additional showroom where the parts used to be kept. Cars are joining the bikes downstairs where only bikes used to sit. The introduction of cars is something that has really happened organically as many existing customers have cars as well as bikes, and both Stuart and Chris are passionate classic car enthusiasts as well as life-long motorcyclists.
With Stuart keeping a watchful eye over proceedings on a part time basis, Chris is really driving things forward and is very passionately growing the business in its new form. The future promises to be a really exciting time for all involved at Lusso Veloce.
