7:05 am, October 13, 2026
Poorly performing new dealerships dragged the holding company of Chorley Group back into the red in 2025 as it posted another year of losses.
Accounts for Bugle Inn Motor Company show a pre tax loss of £995,000 last year which followed a £1m pre-tax loss in 2024.
The firm – which currently represents Nissan, MG, Citroen and Peugeot in the north west – said it had decided to exit a number of franchises that had not worked out for the group.
Chorley Group decided to exit its relationship with Hyundai in July 2026 which meant ending operations in Ormskirk, Wigan and Blackpool. Its Kia franchise in Blackpool was also sold.
The firm said it now intended to focus on its relationships with Nissan and MG, but the impact of the changes will result in a fall in turnover.
In 2025 the firm turned over £272m, up on the £259m it generated in 2024.
Bugle Inn directors said: ‘The company’s strategic realignment forms part of a wider repositioning of the company towards a more focused and streamlined business model centred on the Nissan and MG franchises.
‘Whilst this will result in a planned reduction in turnover in 2026 and 2027, the directors expect the changes to strengthen the company’s liquidity position, reduce stock funding requirements and interest costs, and improve future profitability.’
Directors said in their report that despite the losses there had been an ‘underlying improvement’ in trading.
The firm added: ‘The final trading result for 2025 was impacted by a continued underperformance in the company’s newly opened businesses, with the historic core businesses still performing at an acceptable level.
‘The company’s newly opened locations suffered in revenue generation and profitability, due to the lack of “conquest” client opportunity in an automotive market that is becoming increasingly over populated with new entrants, causing a squeeze on some of the company’s smaller brands (by market share).
‘This impact was considered to be a negative impact on fiscal performance at a number of the company’s. locations, especially where the location required significant additional resource to operate the new brand.’
The results show just how much of an impact traditional car makers are facing from a glut of Chinese brands entering the market with compelling deals on new cars.
Chorley Group said it had decided to scale back its ambitious five-year expansion strategy in 2025 after concluding that some of its newer franchises were failing to deliver sufficient returns to justify the investment and management time required.
While its multi-brand approach had helped grow turnover and gross profit, directors decided to focus on more profitable dealerships and concentrate resources on its strongest-performing brands.
The accounts also reveal the group’s stock holdings increased nearly 20% to £32.9m during the year, while its net current liabilities grew from £5m to nearly £8m.
Directors believe exiting underperforming franchises will reduce the amount of money tied up in vehicles, improve liquidity and cut borrowing costs.
The restructuring is expected to be completed by the end of the first half of 2027.
Directors added: ‘Whilst the board is disappointed to report a further loss for the year, the directors are encouraged by the growth in gross profit, the reduction in finance costs and the underlying improvement in trading, and believe that the decisions taken since the year end, position the business for a return to profitability in the coming years.’