11:14 am, August 23, 2021
Dealership group Furrows saw its pre-tax profit rise by 38 per cent to £1.59m last year – helped by more than £1.5m in furlough support.
In accounts just filed for the year ended December 31, 2020, the company, which operates franchises for Ford, Kia, Mazda and Skoda at sites in Telford, Shrewsbury, pictured, and Oswestry, said turnover fell from £110.31m in 2019 to £84.21m last year – a drop of 24 per cent.
However, pre-tax profit went up from £1.15m to £1.59m. Meanwhile, operating profit increased from £1.94m to £2.41m – a rise of 24 per cent.
The accounts acknowledge £1,523,837 of government grants, and in the accompanying report, signed by director Nicholas Coward for the board, the company says most of the staff were furloughed during the first lockdown.
It added: ‘The financial performance in June to October 2020 was stronger than forecast and despite the reduction in activities in November as a result of the second lockdown in England, the group was able to achieve and exceed targets.’
Furrows also told of its pride at receiving a major accolade, saying: ‘We are very pleased to have recently been recognised by the British Chamber [sic] of Commerce as a “UK Business Hero 2020” to recognise that we “have gone the extra mile to support their local community during the coronavirus outbreak.”‘
Staffing levels within the family group – which goes back more than 100 years – went up from 316 to 335 during the year.
It said it was continuing its reinvestment strategy, ‘with profits generated in the year being retained in the business’.
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