A MOTOR trader says a move to attract more customers to its servicing division is fuelling expansion plans.

Vertu Motors says luring drivers from garages has helped strengthen its financial standing as it looks to grow across the UK.

The Gateshead-based firm, which operates the Bristol Street Motors dealership, says it now has 71,000 motorists on its service plans, compared to 55,397 in the previous year.

Such positivity was reflected in its annual results, which showed revenue lifted to more than £2bn for the year to February 28, with pre-tax profits increasing from £15.8m to £21m.

It added like-for-like revenues grew by £172.7m, which it said was a reflection of higher vehicle sales as well as growth across its service, parts and accident repair centre work.

Robert Forrester, chief executive, said services would continue to be a key component of its successes going forward, as would its ongoing market expansion, which recently saw it conclude a deal for Bury Land Rover and Bradford Jaguar.

He said: “The UK is in rude health and we have more people wanting cars, so we will keep plugging away because we are looking to strengthen across the country.

“It’s great we have a North-East company doing so well, bringing a lot of benefits to the region and jobs to local people.

“We are building a business that offers customers excellent service and have real management stability to deliver that.

“Within that, our aftersales operations are vital because significantly higher returns are generated than vehicle sales.

“Eight per cent of our revenues come from aftersales, which represent 39 per cent of gross profit.”

Vertu employs about 1,000 people in the North-East, including 300 at its head office in Gateshead, where it also runs a call centre.

Its Bristol Street Motors has branches in Darlington and Hartlepool, as well as a site in Peterlee, east Durham and showrooms near Durham City, which sell the Nissan, Seat, Ford, Hyundai and Vauxhall marques.

It also operates a site looking after its used cars in Darlington, as well as a training centre, and Mr Forrester said the town was pivotal to its work.

He added: “Darlington is important for us; we have our used car preparation centre there, as well as our training centre, which is where we hold our management training.

“We are big in Darlington, our Nissan and Seat sites in the town have done well, and we have had a great year.”