ONE of the north’s best known car dealerships has more than doubled its pre tax profits over the past year.
Roadside Motors Limited, which has a network of eight dealerships across Northern Ireland, has recorded profit before tax of £526,203 for the year ending September 30, 2016, up from £193,801 in 2015.
The independent, family owned business, founded in Lurgan in the 1950s recorded turnover of over £53.6 million last year, a decrease of £1.5 million (2.7 per cent), with the gross margin increasing to 5.7 per cent from 5.2 per cent in 2015.
The holding company employs a total of 122 staff across its various subsidiaries, adding one new employee over the year and paid out a total of £2.8 million in wages and salaries.
The firm has two listed directors; Brian and William Hutchinson, who described both the results for the financial year and the prospects for the future as "satisfactory".
In terms of future developments the group "plans to continue its present activities".
Roadside Motors was a single site operation until the purchase of Edwin May in Portadown in 1983 and since then has continued to expand to seven locations in the north including: Ballymena, Lisburn, Armagh and Moneymore, while operating with major manufacturers Citroen, Nissan, Peugeot, Seat, Suzuki and Volkswagen.
