MOTOR dealer and coach hire business Park's of Hamilton (Holdings) has seen a year of further growth with its turnover increasing by more than 15 per cent.

In annual accounts recently made available at Companies House, the family-owned group said it was in a strong financial position in spite of uncertainty in the economy.

The consolidated financial statement shows turnover rose from £347.1 million to £399.4m in the 12 months to March 31, this year.

Within that, the motor arm saw revenue grow from £321.7m to £372.45m with coach hire also up from £25.4m to close to £27m.

The cost of raw materials and consumables showed a jump from £295.8m to almost £344m while pre-tax profit was 17 per cent ahead at £14.29m, up from £12.17m.

Writing in the accounts, the directors said: "Despite difficult trading conditions as a result of the general uncertainty in the economy, the company is in a good financial position at the end of the year.

"Sales in the motor division have increased by approximately 16 per cent. Sales in the coach hiring sector have increased by approximately six per cent."

The company noted £2.6m of capital spending and financial investment in the year, up from £2.13m.

In June of last year the company made its first foray into motorcycle sales when it opened a 10,000 square feet Douglas Park BMW Motorrad dealership in East Kilbride.

Total staff costs were up from £28.2m to £30.2m in a year when Park's stated its average monthly employee numbers grow from 1,104 to 1,201.

The directors saw their remuneration increase from £518,010 to £667,704 with the highest paid seeing their emoluments go up from £102,168 to £125,824.

There were £5.9m of interim equity dividends paid, up from £4.9m.

In the accounts the directors said they "will continue to look for opportunities to expand the company's core business".

In April this year Park's announced it would be operating the first McLaren Automotive dealership in Scotland.

The opening of the Hamilton showroom for the high-end sports cars is expected to be in December.

A temporary showroom and aftersales facility for the McLaren vehicles, which can cost more than £200,000, is already up and running.

In February this year Park's announced it had acquired two dealerships, in Bathgate and Coatbridge, from Verve Motors in a move which was predicted to create up to 50 jobs.

Park's was founded in the 1970s and was originally a coach and bus operation.

It expanded into motor sales in 1977 and started out with one Datsun dealership.

The bus arm now has more than 110 vehicles and runs a number of services which go between Scotland's cities.

Its motor sales are run from dozens of sites across Scotland, covering brands such as Kia, BMW, Bentley, Citroen, Fiat, Honda, Dacia, Land Rover, Jaguar, Mini, Maserati, Nissan, Renault, Saab, Skoda, Suzuki and Volvo.