Ingram Motors has revealed it is being regularly kept up to date on the unfolding Volkswagen emissions scandal by the German giant as the family owned car dealer announced plans for a major investment in its Skoda franchise.
Ingram said its profits dipped in its most recent financial year after investing £370,000 in a major overhaul of its main Volkswagen dealership.
But managing director Malcolm Ingram has said the business will continue to invest to grow and is planning to spend around £400,000 updating its Skoda site in Ayr this year.
Annual accounts recently filed at Companies House show the family owned motor dealer reported a near 27 per cent rise in turnover from £32.05 million to £40.7m in 2014.
While it benefited from ongoing strong demand for new vehicles there was also the addition of a SEAT dealership in Kilmarnock in the early part of last year which further helped to bolster sales.
However the comprehensive revamp of the flagship Volkswagen site in Ayr saw pre-tax profits trimmed from £384,165 to £117,213.
Mr Ingram said: “We are satisfied with how 2014 went as we were up in volume. We would have showed more of a profit if we had not invested so much money into trying to grow the business. You can’t do both.”
The company also has a Hyundai franchise in Ayr as well as a body shop and repair centre.
Capital spending was almost £640,000 in the year, compared to £132,000 in the prior year. That was mainly down to the investments in Kilmarnock and Ayr.
On the Seat dealership Mr Ingram said: “Kilmarnock is coming on, it is in line with where we budgeted so we are fairly happy with that.”
The overhaul in the Volkswagen showroom saw its layout changed to make it “lighter, airier and more contemporary”.
Mr Ingram said: “We also had a good digital involvement as well so customers now get iPads to configure their car so in terms of a technology it has moved forward.”
At the moment the company is not looking to add any more sites with Mr Ingram signalling it will consolidate and aim to reap the benefits from the investments it has made in recent years.
The accounts show net debt rose from £3.3m to just short of £5m. Average monthly staff numbers rose from 83 to 98 with employee costs up from £2.4m to £2.94m.
Mr Ingram said the business is now employing 106 people.
Directors’ remuneration increased from £105,360 to £108,913 and there was a dividend of £12,780 paid in the year, up from £2,000.
Mr Ingram declared himself satisfied with trading so far in 2015 but admitted it was difficult to gauge the impact the Volkswagen emissions scandal may have.
He said: “Recent events with the Volkswagen Group are going to make a difference going forward but we don’t know what kind of difference. There is a lot of uncertainty just now.
“There has been a lot of customer contact and we are just trying to reassure customers with the information we have.
“The world market will get the information as it comes out so we just have to be patient. We are trying to keep customers as updated as we can.”
Asked about the potential impact on sales Mr Ingram said “it is far too early to speculate”.
The business was founded in the 1970s by former Ayr United, Nottingham Forest and Queens Park footballer Alex Ingram.
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