8:59 am, September 27, 2025
Used car supermarket group Big Motoring World’s losses rocketed more than 1,000% in 2024.
Freshly released accounts for the used car business – Bapchild Motoring World Ltd – show it sank to a £10.7m loss last year, up from a £1.1m profit the year before.
The company blamed increased financing and ‘exceptional’ costs caused by its ‘expansion’ and ‘restructuring’ for the losses.
The firm said it also lost revenue after GAP Insurance sales were disrupted by the FCA’s investigation into the product.
The group has been locked in a legal battle with the ousted founder of the business Peter Waddell since he left the business last year. That case is due to go to court in the coming months where Waddell will fight to be reinstated.
Big Motoring World’s new CEO Laurence Vaughan called the results ‘transformational’. The firm issued a press statement today (September 27) which focussed on gross profit rather than profit before tax figures.
Accounts show the business saw revenue increase 23%, up from £697.4m in 2023 to £859.1m in 2024.
During 2024, Big opened its ninth and 10th sites in Sheffield and Norwich. The firm said these dealerships, as well as expansion at its prep centre, helped add an additional £64.4m to its revenue.
Big now employs more than 1,500 people and last year sold 51,000 used cars from its dealerships.
‘To facilitate future growth of the business, the company continues to invest in its corporate platform,’ said the firm, in its annual report.
‘Our IT architecture has been upgraded and modernised with a switch to cloud based solutions. Additionally the company has strengthened the senior management team.’
Shareholder funds in the business have dropped nearly £11m since 2023 – now standing at £21.5m, down from £32.2m the year before.
The highest paid director received £531,493 during the year.
In a statement, Laurence Vaughan, CEO of Big Motoring World, said: ‘In 2024, our focus was on transformation.
‘We invested in our operational processes and systems to become more focused on our customers and added new sites to extend our national reach.
‘We can be proud that we now have the right foundations in place to build sustainable growth, and will look forward with positivity as we build on our momentum in the UK’s vital used car market.’
During the year the firm consolidated its Peterborough sites into one location which ran up £726,882 in closure costs.
The sites it bought in Leeds and Cannock from Available Car cost the firm more than £30m – that included £4.6m for the property, £19.8m for the stock and a £3.5m goodwill payment, among other costs.
The accounts show Peter Waddell Holdco Limited is owed £6.6m by the company.
