8:40 am, October 11, 2022
Dealer group Vindis bounced back from losses of close to £1m in 2020 to post record profits in its latest set of annual accounts.
Documents filed with Companies House show that the Cambridgeshire-based outfit made an impressive pre-tax profit of £7.36m in the 12 months to December 31, 2021.
The result marks a drastic turnaround from the previous 12 month period, when Vindis posted a loss of £911,270.
Bosses say they are ‘delighted’ with the turnaround and paid tribute to the ‘amazing effort’ that staff have put into transforming the firm’s fortunes.
As well as profit, turnover also shot up in the period covered by the accounts. The dealer group generated £362.4m in 2021 – a 24 per cent rise on 2020’s £292.1m.
Of that improved revenue, £329.8m came from the sale of vehicles with used car volumes up 30 per cent and new car volumes rising three per cent.
Elsewhere, the rendering of services brought in £23.5m with just over £9m generated from commissions.
The incredible turnaround came despite heavy disruption from Covid-19 throughout the year, with the early months in particular affected by several national lockdowns.
However, as the year rolled on, the pandemic began to have less of an impact and the firm was able to reduce its reliance on furlough cash.
Overall, 2021 saw Vindis claimed just over £1m in grants, compared to £3.5m in the previous year.
In a statement included in the accounts, director Gary Vindis, admitted the pandemic had impacted the business.
He said: ‘2021 started on the back foot with the government announcing the third national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing non-essential retail to close.
‘We were able to open our workshops and utilise our online platform for remote car sales, allowing us to continue to trade, however, this presented challenges around staffing levels to suit the reduced demand levels and utilising the government JRS support.
‘Once restrictions were lifted we experienced a pent up demand as expected with strong margins.
‘New Car supply from the manufacturer was a major problem during the second half of the year due to components shortages, which increased lead times on new orders and reduced the amount of new car stock on the ground available to sell.
‘This was a global issue across all manufacturers and resulted in used car prices increasing month after month due to demand outweighing supply.
‘We were able to capitalise on this by keeping purchasing costs low and increasing our margins.’
He added: ‘Despite the pandemic continuing to create difficult trading conditions, the strength of our brand portfolio will help to ensure the company is well placed to deal with any continuing economic challenges.
‘During the year, the company continued to benefit from low interest rates and we’ll continue to review all costs, overheads and stalking policies to ensure that appropriate action is taken to match resources to demand whilst endeavouring to avoid compromising the customer experience.’
Vindis Group ended the year with a portfolio of 21 sites representing the likes of Volkswagen, Bentley Audi, Skoda and Seat
