“Exceptional growth” in used vehicle sales has seen turnover hit a record £3.35 billion and pre-tax operating profits rise 1.8% to £121.7 million at Scottish motor retailing giant Arnold Clark.
The company sold 175,526 used vehicles in 2015, an increase of 10.8% on the previous year, boosting turnover by 2.2%, according to accounts released by Companies House yesterday. However, its sales of new cars were down by 8.4%, mainly as a result of a large fleet contract not being renewed.
While the rise in used vehicle sales was partly down to new sites opening, in his foreword to the accounts, chairman and chief executive, Sir Arnold Clark, said he was pleased to note like-for-like sales were up by 7.9%.
The company, which has more than 200 dealerships in Scotland and England, acquired half a dozen more during 2015, including the £2.7 million takeover of Inverness-based Ness Motors in February.
Sir Arnold described the purchase of Ness Motors, with 100 staff and sites in the Highland capital, Elgin and Perth as his company’s “most significant” acquisition of the year.
The company now has six outlets in Inverness, eight in Aberdeen, two in Elgin and one in Peterhead.
Its other acquisitions in 2015 included Vauxhall dealerships in West Calder and East Kilbride two Seat outlets, in Preston and Newcastle and a used car business in Burton. The number of its Motorstore sites rose to 21, with openings at Chesterfield and Wigan.
During the year the company built bespoke premises on Longman Road, Inverness, for the BMW and Mini franchises it acquired in the city in 2014. The new sites, with capacity to display more than 165 cars, opened last November.
A site at Hillington, near Glasgow Aiport, with space for more than 400 cars was also opened and has become home to Arnold Clark’s 500 head office staff.
In December, damage caused by a fire at the firm’s service centre at Girdleness Road, Aberdeen, was so severe that the building had to be fully demolished. Servicing work was transferred to other centres in the city while the construction of a new building got underway.
Sir Arnold thanked staff in Aberdeen for handling the situation with the “utmost professionalism” and also paid tribute to customers for their “understanding and loyalty to the company.”
Sir Arnold, who celebrates his 89th birthday next month, opened his first car dealership in Glasgow’s Kelvinside in 1954.
Looking to the current year, he said he expected the new car market to remain relatively static, with used cars experiencing similar growth to 2015.
He added that early trading results for 2016 had been “very promising.”
