By Karen Peattie
THE UK’s fifth-largest motor retailer, Vertu Motors, said it is confident it has sufficient liquidity to exit Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and capitalise on the trading opportunities arising as markets return to a more normal level of activity.
Vertu, owner of the Macklin Motors dealership which has branches across Scotland including in Glasgow, Paisley and Dunfermline, temporarily closed all retail vehicle sales and aftersales operations and suspended vehicle sales deliveries when the UK Government announced social distancing restrictions in March.
The company’s online and telephone sales operations continued, however, and it had an order bank since March 25 of 825 retail vehicle orders and 749 fleet and commercial orders. Internet sales enquiries for April were approximately 37 per cent of last year’s levels.
Vertu opened 98 of its 133 dealership aftersales operations in late March for key workers, essential work and vulnerable customers. It said van repairs have been a crucial element of the workload during lockdown with 18% of its technicians working in these locations.
A trading statement yesterday said: “Average invoice values demonstrate good disciplines, despite skeleton teams, and overall labour sales are running at 20% of pre-lockdown levels.
“April service labour revenues are expected to be around £1.7 million. The group’s central contact centre has been operating very effectively from home and, in recent days, additional colleague resource has been added to enable service bookings to be diarised from June onwards.”
Vertu pointed to a “very strong balance sheet, with low levels of debt and significant assets (including freehold land and buildings with a book value of £186m) and liquidity at the start of the period of disruption”. Adjusted net debt, excluding used vehicle stocking loans, was £2.8m at February 29. The Group drew a further £10m of its revolving credit facility in March.
The group said it has undertaken detailed planning for the reopening of dealerships in a “safe and socially distanced way” including staff training and the use of personal protection equipment (PPE) where appropriate once restrictions are lifted.
Vertu said there will be a phased return of staff from furlough to meet demand.
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