Peoples Group saw turnover increase by 11.3% year-on-year to £306.8 million, while profits for the year reduced by 9.5% to £7.67m on what was a previous record year.
The annual results for the year ended July 31, 2023 was boosted in particular by the group’s aftersales performance.
New car sales were up 21%, used car sales up 11% and aftersales profits soared by 31%. Commercial vehicle sales were down 17% due to an industry-wide shortage.
The group saw a 2.5% return on sales across the group’s locations in Edinburgh, Falkirk, Livingston and three sites in Liverpool.
Brian Gilda, chairman of Peoples, said: “We reflect on these results with delight. Despite having come through a period of commercial vehicle supply constraints which adversely affected volumes across the sector, we exceeded our operational benchmarks and financial targets.
“Our increase in new and used personal vehicle sales positively impacted our turnover and our huge upturn in aftersales is testament to consumer confidence in our brand and our experts.
“They know their cars are in good hands with our erudite, qualified technicians, and we know if we look after our customers well they will continue to come back to our service department.”
Gilda said the driving force behind the financial year’s successes is the operational board which was established in 2022. The board is led by senior operational director Nicola Gilda.
He said: “The operational board allows us to make quick and smart decisions on our current position and future strategy, and we are continually investing in capital and infrastructure projects.”
Key developments have included investment in “game-changing” business analytics technology allowing Peoples to make more data-driven decisions based on real-time insights from across every department.
Peoples has Electric Vehicle Approved accreditation across all of its dealerships and Gilda said it is more important than ever to have an agile, expert board to shape the future direction of the business.
He added: “We also need to ensure our franchised dealer network is aligned with our view of the future direction of the UK market, and for that reason we are in exploratory talks with a number of overseas manufacturer partners, including potential partners in China, who are looking to import to the UK.”
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