8:15 am, April 17, 2023
Burrows Motor Company saw its pre-tax profit tumble to just over £3m last year despite revenue increasing by more than a fifth.
Its accounts for the year ended December 31, 2022 – newly published on Companies House – show that the Car Dealer Top 100 firm made £3.014m versus £3.565m in 2021 – a drop of 15 per cent.
Operating profit, meanwhile, fell by 12 per cent from £4.236m to £3.709m on revenue that went up by 21 per cent from £141.61m to £171.952m.
The new and used car dealership chain – which has showrooms in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire and represents Toyota, Mazda and Kia – said the main reason for the drop was down to the reduced support over Covid as well as higher interest rates.
No government grants were received last year, as opposed to £588,000 in 2021 because of the pandemic. The average monthly number of employees went up from 335 to 342.
Burrows also highlighted the Ukraine conflict, which it said had ‘badly affected the supply of towbars, wiring harnesses’ plus other industry components.
Coupled with the after-effects of the pandemic, that had ‘really slowed down the availability of cars and particularly pick-ups’.
It sold 6,637 cars last year versus 6,349 in 2021 – a five per cent increase. The number of workshop hours that were sold, however, went DOWN from 94,361 to 91,096 – a drop of three per cent.
The company, which is controlled by majority shareholder Steven Burrows, also said in the accompanying strategic report that shutting showrooms on Sundays had been a success.
The move, which reflected a drop in inquiries and appointments on Sundays as customers sought to spend that time with families or on sporting activities, had meant in turn a better work-life balance for staff.
Spreading a five-day rota over six rather than seven days had proved to be a much easier way to manage staff and improve availability in the sales department during the week when it was most needed.
It added that it had led to a better customer experience and a happier team. ‘Clearly, it is a key positive in recruiting and retaining sales people until other dealers catch up,’ it said.
Looking ahead, it will be upgrading its Kia showroom in Barnsley this month, with an upgrade of its Toyota Doncaster site, pictured, starting soon after.
Image: Google Street View
