North East motoring firm in "significantly better" position than anticipated

A North East motoring company has announced that it is in a “significantly better” position than anticipated during lockdown.

Vertu Motors, based in Gateshead, saw July like-for-like volumes of new retail cars up 18.1 per cent, and order take for September is currently running more than 20 per cent ahead of last year.

The company said that its ambition is to grow the scale of its franchised dealership operations, and is aiming to look at several acquisitions over the next few months.

Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu Motors, commented: “July trading continued the trends seen in June and was significantly stronger than both what we envisaged and the group’s original business plan for the month.

“A robust recovery in customer demand for our vehicles and servicing has continued, aided by our investments in omnichannel retailing.

“A very successful 0 per cent finance used vehicle sale event was executed in a majority of the group’s English dealerships and this, together with strong used car margins, aided the delivery of a record month for used car profits.

“The group’s high margin aftersales operations also performed well, delivering year on year growth in revenue, gross profit and margin.

“I would like to thank colleagues for their continued enthusiasm and commitment in delivering this great result whilst ensuring all our sites have remained safe for both customers and colleagues.”