Motorhome sales for manufacturer Auto-Trail reflected a Covid-interupted year as revenues dropped by almost 30 per cent - with strong growth since a full return highlighted.
The Grimsby-based company saw its previous turnover of £69 million fall to £48.7 million in the year to August 31, 2020, with the loss of a key supplier slightly hampering the initial build-back.
Results come after the Europarc business launched a significant recruitment campaign this spring to meet a recent upturn in demand. A surge in sales was felt as the year ended and beyond, which bosses said quickly became apparent was over and above any pent-up demand triggered by lockdown dealership closures.
In his strategic report, which showed profits fall from from £5.3 million to £2.8 million, finance director Shane Devoy, said: “Almost all of the dealer network closed their entire business operations for nearly a quarter of the year to abide by government instructions to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
"This had a consequential effect on our business and we were unable to deliver our products to dealers and in addition there was a significant risk of order cancellations. Our factory was also forced to close for a large part of the third quarter of the year to mitigate the risk of over production and protect the health and safety of our staff.”
The company remained “cash positive” and satisfied all its liabilities as they fell due, with Mr Devoy saying the board was “pleased to have successfully navigated the business through those difficult times and delivered a net result that has been acceptable to its shareholders under the circumstances”.
Almost two months of production were lost between late March and late May, with full operations back in June.
And it hasn’t looked back, with a boom in an emerging campervan market as younger families are attracted to the freedom offered.
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Mr Devoy said: “Since the year end it has become apparent that this increased demand is a more prolonged change in the market. New customers are coming into the market with the desire to have personal control of their social space whilst enjoying more localised holidays. This emerging staycation trend has fuelled a surge of sales orders.”
Staff numbers had been cut from 233 to 186 in the period covered, but are now ramping back up again towards 210 with “significantly stronger” results forecast for the French-owned parent company Trigano in 2021.
It had entered the reporting year with consumer confidence knocked by Brexit, with a £20 million hit to sales witnessed. The ‘demonisation of diesel’ with a corrected Treasury reclassification of vehicles was also blamed.
That drop-off had been predicted in 2018’s results with the brakes slammed on growth midway through a financial year that brought sales of £89 million - six months before Covid-19 emerged.