9:22 am, September 30, 2025
Dealer group Vindis slumped to a multi-million-pound loss last year with bosses bemoaning one of the most ‘challenging’ periods in the firm’s history.
Accounts recently published via Companies House show that Vindis Group Limited made a pre-tax loss of £4.31m in the 12 months to the end of last December.
The figure represents a complete collapse on the previous year’s result, when the firm returned a profit of £107,146.
As well as vanishing profits, the car dealer also saw turnover drop by 11.22% to £387.08m as the firm battled major external headwinds.
Bosses have pointed to macro-economic factors, as well as new car supply and staffing, as the biggest contributors to the decline.
The year also saw Vindis close its Bentley new car site in Cambridge due to a ‘lack of demand’. The group has now used the site to launch its new venture – Three 10 Automotive – which sells and services premium used vehicles.
In a statement included in the accounts, director Jamie Vindis said the board were ‘not satisfied’ with the year’s result and admitted that changes had been made to address ‘numerous issues’ during Q4.
He added that both new and used volumes were down on 2023, with sales impacted by a ‘high staff attrition rate’.
‘The board were not satisfied with this result, however recognise and appreciate the effort made by all our staff,’ he said.
‘2024 proved to be one of the most challenging years experienced by the company in recent times, with headwinds coming from both macro-economic factors, new car supply and staffing.
‘New retail volumes were back on prior year due to model mix availability and conversion rates; this impacted the average sale values which in turn impacted margins.
‘New corporate sales were significantly back on prior year due to several one-off contracts in the prior year and the negative impact of our fleet storage facility during 2023, which has now been addressed.
‘Used volume was back on prior year but margins did improve due to better stock management.
‘The group has suffered with a high staff attrition rate throughout the year especially in sales, which created some instability that negatively impacted the conversion of enquiries into sales.
‘There was a change of senior leadership during Q4 to address numerous issues which has now resulted in more stability and a better strategic plan moving forward.’
The accounts show that staff numbers shrank across the group in 2024, with the average workforce dropping from 775 employees to 721. As a result, staff costs dipped by almost £280,000 to £31.26m.
Directors’ remuneration also dropped slightly to £672,151.
