9:25 am, April 7, 2026
Car dealer Allen Ford has announced a major restructure after the firm slumped to an eight figure loss in 2025.
Accounts recently filed via Companies House show that Allen Ford (UK) Limited made a pre-tax loss of £12.54m in the 12 months to the end of June 2025.
The figure represents a complete collapse on the previous year’s £3.52m profit, with bosses bemoaning ‘lower new vehicle retail volumes, weaker used vehicle pricing and margins, and higher interest costs’.
The bulk of the hit came from non-cash impairment charges, where the company wrote down the value of sites and assets linked to closures, franchise exits and weaker future cash flow expectations, rather than from day-to-day trading losses.
However, the accounts do reveal a difficult year generally for the historic dealer group, with revenue also falling from £704.1m in 2024 to £669.26m in 2025.
In response, directors have ‘taken actions to restructure the business’, which have included multiple redundancies as well as the ‘exit from certain loss-making lines of business and franchise relationships’.
The documents show that redundancy and restructuring costs totalled £1.2m throughout 2025, forming part of wider exceptional costs of £10m.
The retail group also spent £8.2m on the ‘impairment of fixed assets’ as well as £0.6m on ‘goodwill impairment’.
At the end of the accounting period, the company had net assets of £49.4m and cash balances of £6.7m. Despite the loss, directors say the business remains financially stable, with sufficient funding in place.
Writing in the accounts, director Niall Hooper said: ‘During the year, the company committed to exit certain loss-making lines of business and franchise relationships.
‘As a result of revised future cash flow expectations, uncertainty over the recoverability of associated assets and unavoidable lease commitments through to lease expiry, the carrying values of related owned and leased site assets were no longer fully recoverable and were written down accordingly.
‘The redundancy and restructuring costs reflect management actions taken to align the cost base and operating footprint of the business to current market conditions.
The directors’ focus during the current financial year ending 30 June 2026 is on completing the restructuring of the business to restore profitability and improve cash generation.
‘Actions taken and underway include the exit from certain loss-making lines of business and franchise relationships, site consolidation where appropriate, headcount reduction, supplier contract review and broader cost reduction measures across the business.
‘In addition, the company has expanded its brand portfolio with new franchised brands introduced during and after the year end, which are performing profitably and are contributing positively to cash generation.’
Elsewhere, the accounts show that the firm spent £51.99m on staff costs in 2025, compared to £52.8 in 2024. This was helped by a 2.18% drop in the amount spent on wages and salaries, which came in at £46.63m.
Throughout the year, the car dealer averaged 1,148 employees, compared to 1,222 in 2024.
Bosses are now hoping that the changes will bear fruit over the coming years and are backing the firm to return to profitability in 2026.
‘The directors have started to see the initial benefit of these actions in post year-end trading and cash generation and are expecting a return to profitability for the year ended 30 June 2026 and continuing in 2027,’ Hooper added.
‘In response to evolving market conditions and our ongoing focus on operational efficiency, the group continues to undertake strategic consolidation and closures on parts of its current dealership structure.
‘This initiative aims to optimise cost structures and ensure long-term sustainability while continuing to deliver high levels of service to our customers.’
