Driving force
Vardy moves up a gear with a surge in profits
CAR dealer Peter Vardy posted a 55 per cent increase in profits last year, on sales of £437.2 million.
Group chief executive Peter Vardy said in the company’s annual results that the results were “outstanding”, and outlined the group’s plans for further growth between now and 2020.
Profits before amortisation and donations were £12.1m, up from £7.8m last year.
Underlying returns on sales, a key motor industry benchmark, was up from two per cent last year to 2.7 per cent.
The industry average for the same period was 1.22 per cent. Average profit per dealership at Peter Vardy was £1m compared to an industry average in 2015 of £197,000.
The group has invested heavily in premises to support internal and manufacturer growth plans over the next five years.
During 2015 it invested £6m in Porsche Aberdeen, while a new Jaguar Land Rover showroom in the city is scheduled to open next month. It invested a total of £15.2m on property and land purchases and building refurbishments in the year, according to its annual results.
The group operates five prestige dealerships selling Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche and BMW-Mini vehicles. It also owns Scotland’s biggest indoor used car showroom, CarStore, at Hillington in Glasgow.
Another CarStore supermarket is set to open in Dundee this year after Mr Vardy said the Glasgow branch was “successful beyond expectations”.
It also reported it was actively seeking to add another volume brand to its franchise portfolio.
This year marks the 10th anniversary since Peter Vardy set up the company, and further expansion is very much part of the future strategy. He said: “The motor division will continue to focus on organic growth but look for opportunities for acquisitions that fit with our current brands.”
In this motor division the company in May appointed Cameron Wade as managing director to help it meet objectives for 2020 that were laid down last year.
Part of this is the delivery of a vision to be “the best place to work and the best place to buy”. This has seen the company distribute share options to its 800 employees as part of its Peter Vardy Partnership Programme. And it is why Mr Vardy has previously said that making money is not the “be all
‘‘ The Group is performing ahead of its 2020 strategy after first year and has focused on six key objectives
and end all” of running a business. This ethos saw the company donate £1m of its profits to The Peter Vardy Foundation last year.
Mr Vardy said: “The Group is performing ahead of its 2020 strategy after the first year and has focused its actions on six key objectives: colleague engagement, customer, or guest as defined in our business, satisfaction, developing manufacturer relationships, achieving financial performance targets, evolving digital strategies and giving 10 per cent of profits back to charity.”
In 2015 annual website visits grew 38 per cent to surpass 2.7 million, which led to 72,000 inquiries.
The company has appointed a digital marketing team and has allocated 70 per cent of its marketing budget for online. A new website is set to launch later this year.