John Clark Motor Group is celebrating record sales passing the £1 billion mark after making significant investments in Dundee and Perth.
The family firm recently bought the MG car franchise in Perth after acquiring the car brand from West End.
Dundee investments have been made in buying the former Peter Vardy CARZ premises, an all-new BMW and BMW Motorrad facility at King’s Cross Road, and a refurbishment of its Mini site.
It spent £2 million on its Volvo dealership which opened in January 2022. This was followed by a new MG car showroom on Myrekirk Road.
John Clark record sales
The firm said: “We continued to focus on developing and extending the relationships with our existing franchise partners, as well as to consider potential opportunities presented to us by others, which saw us add the MG franchise to our portfolio, initially in Dundee plus also now in Perth.”
Newly filed accounts for the year ending December 31 2023 show a rise in sales to £1.029bn from £914.3m recorded in 2022. Pre-tax profit has dropped to £22.86m compared to £25.3m in 2022.
The firm said the figures showed “positive momentum” crossing the £1bn turnover threshold.
Its aftersales operations also performed well, generating revenue growth of 9% to £94.9m.
More acquisitions in the pipeline
Last year John Clark Motor Group made 13,428 new car sales compared to 11,308 in 2022. Used car sales were 18,412 against 18,304 in 2022.
Chris Clark, group managing director, said: “Despite some notable headwinds and an again ever-changing market, we continue to deliver growth in what is now our 50th anniversary year.
“Whilst our mid-year results are in line with expectations, as many others across most industries will recognise, it is a year where we are working harder to sell more but earn less.
“That said, our financial resources remain strong, well balanced, and sufficient to support the business today and allow growth in the future as we actively pursue several acquisition opportunities.”
Investment in John Clark staff
The company said it benefitted from a “continued focus on operational efficiencies and agility to counter and optimise performance in an ever-changing market”.
This allowed them to extend staff benefits which paid off with staff headcount rising to 1,355 and an increase in retention rates to a then below industry average staff turnover ratio.
Mr Clark said: “Our teams can once again celebrate playing their part in what has been another great year for the group, and we remain incredibly grateful for all the hard work and effort that each one of our colleagues puts into their roles.
“I know we have one of the best teams in the industry and I am very proud to be part of it.”
The company has Audi, BMW, Cupra, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mini, Seat, Skoda, and Volvo franchises in Dundee.
A site is currently being redeveloped for a Volkswagen group franchise.
It also operates Land Rover, Jaguar, MG and Skoda in Perth and Volkswagen in Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline.
The report said: “Our Volvo dealerships have seen recognition of their 2023 performances in the Volvo Cars UK annual dealer network awards review, where our Dundee operations won the regional dealer of the year award and the division was confirmed as the overall UK dealer group of the year.
“Our Jaguar Land Rover dealerships in Edinburgh, Dundee and Perth dealerships also again saw recognition of their performances via success within the manufacturer annual dealer network awards review, with the latter again winning the overall Land Rover dealer of the year award.”
Aberdeen-headquartered John Clark also has dealerships in Edinburgh, Stirling and Elgin.
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