9:24 am, July 21, 2023
W Brindley Garages in Cannock suffered a 41 per cent pre-tax profit fall during its first year without the Vauxhall sales franchise.
Its accounts for the year ended November 30, 2022, which have just been published, show that W Brindley Garages (Cannock) made £203,310 profit before tax– massively down on the £341,931 it made the previous year when its profits almost doubled.
Turnover for its financial year was also significantly down – dropping by 21 per cent from £13.35m to £10.58m.
Operating profit, meanwhile, slipped by a whopping 54 per cent from £349,984 to £161,236.
In the accompanying report, the directors blamed reduced turnover and lack of Covid support cash for causing the drop after ‘the impressive 2021 performance’.
However, the board said it was satisfied with the results, which followed ‘the disruption caused by the withdrawal from the Vauxhall network’.
The directors added: ‘During the year, the site traded principally as a used car centre under the historical Gold Star brand, with the fledgling Maxus franchise taking a portion of the site towards the end of the year.
‘In light of this, the reduction in turnover of 21% was to be expected.’
The directors said that finding good-quality used cars had been a struggle, thanks to a lack of part-exchanges in the UK market because of poor new car supply.
But the dealership’s buyers managed to counteract that thanks to their network of contacts, said the directors. As a result, the company’s gross margin rose by half a percentage point to 12 per cent.
And despite no longer selling Vauxhall vehicles, W Brindley Garages (Cannock) continued to represent the manufacturer as an authorised repairer, meaning aftersales revenue stayed stable.
‘This demonstrates the outstanding loyalty of our local customer base, reinforced by the company’s reputation for offering excellent service levels,’ said the directors.
Looking ahead, they said principal risks were the UK’s economic outlook, as well as the Ukraine war ‘continuing to be deeply concerning’.
But they added: ‘In the face of such uncertainties, the support of the parent and other associated companies’ balance sheets continue to provide the greatest comfort that the business has the resilience and experience to deal with whatever may occur in the future.’
The Brindley Group as a whole has dealerships in Cannock, Tipton, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton, representing Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Maxus, Mazda, MG, Nissan and Volvo.
It is also an authorised repairer for Mitsubishi.
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Pictured via Google Street View is Brindley’s Gold Star used car showroom in Cannock
