Peoples Group saw turnover increase by 11.3% year-on-year to £306.8 million, while profits for the yr reduced by 9.5% to £7.67m on what was a previous record yr.
The annual results for the yr ended July 31, 2023 was boosted particularly by the group’s aftersales performance.
Latest automobile sales were up 21%, used automobile sales up 11% and aftersales profits soared by 31%. Business vehicle sales were down 17% as a result of an industry-wide shortage.
The group saw a 2.5% return on sales across the group’s locations in Edinburgh, Falkirk, Livingston and three sites in Liverpool.
Brian Gilda, chairman of Peoples, said: “We reflect on these results with delight. Despite having come through a period of economic vehicle supply constraints which adversely affected volumes across the sector, we exceeded our operational benchmarks and financial targets.
“Our increase in recent and used personal vehicle sales positively impacted our turnover and our huge upturn in aftersales is testament to consumer confidence in our brand and our experts.
“They know their cars are in good hands with our erudite, qualified technicians, and we all know if we take care of our customers well they’ll proceed to come back back to our service department.”
Gilda said the driving force behind the financial yr’s successes is the operational board which was established in 2022. The board is led by senior operational director Nicola Gilda.
He said: “The operational board allows us to make quick and smart decisions on our current position and future strategy, and we’re continually investing in capital and infrastructure projects.”
Key developments have included investment in “game-changing” business analytics technology allowing Peoples to make more data-driven decisions based on real-time insights from across every department.
Peoples has Electric Vehicle Approved accreditation across all of its dealerships and Gilda said it’s more essential than ever to have an agile, expert board to shape the long run direction of the business.
He added: “We also need to make sure our franchised dealer network is aligned with our view of the long run direction of the UK market, and for that reason we’re in exploratory talks with quite a few overseas manufacturer partners, including potential partners in China, who wish to import to the UK.”
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This Article First Appeared At www.am-online.com
