Ford dealership celebrates profit rise on 100th anniversary
OMC Motor Group, which has owned the Oldham Ford franchise for 100 years, has seen turnover and profits increase despite continuing tough market conditions for car dealerships.
The group, which employs 144 staff, operates the Ford car dealership, a van dealership and a Kia franchise in Oldham, along with another Ford dealership in Rochdale.
It saw pre-tax profits before exceptional items increase 12.1% to £869,000 (2009: £775,000) for the year to the end of December 2010.
It also received a one-off VAT repayment with interest, which bumped up profits by an additional £469,000 to £1.34m. This allowed the company to pay a £1m dividend for the year.
Robin Eglin, managing director, told TheBusinessDesk: “We made a decent profit so shareholders funds stayed at the same amount. We didn’t need to take money out for the dividend.”
Turnover increased 8.7% to £37.3m (2009: £34.3m). The family-owned company said the rise had mainly been derived from growth in the Kia franchise, launched in 2008, and its commercial sales operation.
Taking on the Kia franchise when it did was a shrewd move for the business – the Kia franchise turned over £3.5m in 2010, about 10% of total group turnover.
Mr Eglin said: “We’ve only had Kia a couple of years but it got into its own stride last year.
“It was low-cost adding it on to the existing group as we didn’t have to set up all the departments and back office; we had all that so really it was just the show room. It was not a big cost and we are reaping the benefits now.”
He added that 2011 had been a particularly tough year for the business and is he expecting to see a dip in revenue this year.
“We will probably finish at two thirds of the level of what we made last year, that’s the pattern we’ve seen this year to date. And that’s across the whole business, including the body shops, used cars, service. The economy is really biting now and people are really feeling it this year.”
Mr Eglin doesn’t see the market recovering any time soon.
“I don’t see it improving next year or the year after – it will be a very gradual improvement over a number of years. Then we’ll get to 2016 and see things aren’t so bad now, but we won’t notice as it happens.”
This year OMC Motor Group is celebrating owning the Ford dealership in Oldham for 100 years, since Robin’s grandfather switched from selling bicycles to cars.
The company commemorated its 100 year milestone last month with a rally of 45 Ford Model Ts, which rolled up at Old Trafford, where they were first mass produced from 1914 to 1931, before production was moved to Dagenham.
