ONE of the north’s best known car dealerships has seen its profits treble over the past year despite the motor market in general having gone into reverse since the pandemic.
The family-owned Roadside Motors in Lurgan, an independent business founded in the 1950s, saw its profit soar from £531,495 in 2020 to £1,715,158 in the 12 months to September 30 last.
It came as sales rose by around 18 per cent to £54.5m from £47.1m a year earlier, with the bulk (£45.6m) coming from the sale of new and used vehicles. The remainder came in sales of parts and via service income.
The company employs a total of 131 staff across its various subsidiaries, similar to the previous year, and Roadside paid out a total of £3.45 million in wages and salaries, with its two directors getting a total of £162,750.
Roadside Motors was a single site operation until the purchase of Edwin May in Portadown in 1983.
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.
The firm has two listed directors in Brian and William Hutchinson, who said the financial year "continued to produce encouraging results".
