TURNOVER at one of the north's best known car dealerships rose by almost 5 per cent last year as increasing consumer confidence saw more people buying new and used vehicles.
Roadside Motors had sales of just over £55 million in the 12 months to September 2015 according to financials at Companies House in Belfast.
The Lurgan-headquartered firm, which also trades as Edwin May, has a network of eight dealerships across Northern Ireland.
It has contracts to sell new Nissan, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Seat, Suzuki and Citroen.
Although overall revenue rose, gross margin decreased to 5.2 per cent (against 6 per cent in 2014).
The bottom line also fell with Roadside reporting profits after tax of £125,500 compared to £160,667 the previous year.
Directors said they "consider both the results for the year and the prospects for the future to be satisfactory".
The company did not add to its workforce during the year with 127 on the payroll. However, the wage bill did rise slightly to £2.9m from £2.8m.
The firm, owned by the Hutchinson family was founded in the 1950s in Lurgan and operated from a single site before embarking on an expansion over the past three decades.
The expansion began with the purchase of Edwin May in Portadown in 1983 while Roadside now also operates from locations in Armagh, Moneymore, Coleraine and Lisburn.
According to the latest figures, car sales in the north are on the up, increasing by 5 per cent in April compared to the same month last year.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said there had been 23,465 new cars registered over the first four months of 2016 putting them 3.2 per cent ahead of where they were over the same period in 2015.
