Scottish car dealer Peter Vardy sees profits motor ahead as sales dented by pandemic

Peter Vardy, the Scotland-headquartered car dealership group, has signed off an “extraordinary 12 months” with a rise in profits despite sales being dented by the pandemic.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for 2020 came in at £14.26 million, up from £11.27m in 2019.

That was despite turnover reversing 6.5 per cent to £440.57m due to Covid restrictions causing the dealerships to close their doors for around a quarter of the year. Thanks to digital investment, a record 42 per cent of sales were transacted online while trading restrictions were in place.

In the year under review, the group operated six volume and six “prestige” dealerships, two used car supermarket operations and a heritage cars dealership, with franchised businesses representing BMW, Mini, Jaguar Land Rover, Porsche and Vauxhall.

Chief executive Peter Vardy said the eponymous car dealer was emerging from the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

Set up as a single dealership in Perth in 2006, Peter Vardy Group has grown to a business employing more than 1,100 people.

Chief executive Peter Vardy said: “2020 will be remembered as a terribly difficult period for society which profoundly influenced our colleagues, guests and communities in which we serve.

“During this challenging period, we focused on: the physical, mental, and financial well-being of our colleagues and their families; protecting employment – implementing a Covid related ‘zero’ redundancy policy; ensuring we were always open for key workers and investing in industry-leading guest safety; and giving back to the communities we serve.

“As we now emerge from the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, we are prioritising growing the business, creating new employment opportunities and continuing to develop our Net Better Off Programme for our colleagues.”

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