7:43 am, April 28, 2026
Car dealer group Hendy has finally published its long-overdue accounts for 2024 that show an ‘extremely disappointing’ £18.1m loss before tax.
The South Coast business, owned by former Carzam investor John Bailey, saw the business tumble to the devastating result in 2024 from a £7.1m profit the year before.
The company has also revealed that unaudited accounts for 2025 will show a loss too.
Turnover fell from £1.16bn in 2023 to £1.1bn in 2024.
The report for parent company Hendy Automotive Limited shows banking covenants were breached in September and December 2025 which gave the group’s lenders the right to demand immediate repayment of loans.
This followed an £11.5m cash injection from shareholders in March last year.
Auditors BDO warned there was ‘material uncertainty’ that cast ‘significant doubt’ on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern. They said ‘the achievement of banking covenants is dependent on forecasts which historically have not been achieved’ at Hendy.
The car dealer group said it has now taken a number of ‘key actions’ as a result of the ‘market conditions and trading performance’.
It has managed to refinance and pay off its former lenders in full, but this only happened this month. The new facility is in place for 12 months and was agreed alongside continued ‘shareholder support’.
Other actions included exiting its relationships with Maserati and Moke, ‘significantly reducing’ its representation with Honda, closing down a used car supermarket and reducing staff numbers by 9%.
Hendy said it also recruited a new chief operating officer with former Lookers director Duncan McPhee joining the business in 2024.
Hendy represents 22 different marques across 44 sales and aftersales locations across the South Coast of England, and has recently added Geely, BYD, Chery, Omoda and Jaecoo.
The firm said it committed to construct a major new dealership in Tunbridge Wells during the year to house Ford, Kia and Mazda and that had been a ‘major draw’ on its 2024 cash flow.
Hendy added: ‘During 2025 and into 2026 the group has undertaken an extensive re-structuring programme that is designed to return the group to profitability.
‘This programme is focused on three distinct areas being OEM representation, operational processes designed to improve vehicle volume and margin and further reductions to cost base.
‘These changes have been further supported by strengthening both the executive and operational boards.’
Daksh Gupta, former Marshall Motor Group CEO, is non-executive chairman of Hendy and the group has also appointed Martin Reay as chief financial officer.
The accounts reveal that 2025 has also been a punishing year for the struggling dealer group with last year likely to show a loss too.
The firm added: ‘Post year end, the trading position has been challenging and the unaudited management accounts for the year to 31 December 2025 show a loss.
‘Management have undertaken a complete review of the business and have implemented a number of trading improvement initiatives and cost reductions and are forecasting a return to profitability for the year to 2026.’
In a statement, issued to coincide with the annual accounts being published at Companies House, CEO Paul Hendy (pictured) said: ‘These figures reflect what has been a very challenging trading period for the company across 2024 and 2025 and for the motor retail sector as a whole.
‘Now in 2026 we’re seeing an improvement in performance, thanks to the effort and commitment from our colleagues and a transformation programme that is delivering change in all parts of the organisation.’
